I want to make a few things clear:
- I love my church, Rothesay Vineyard.
- I feel called to be a pastor.
- I want to pastor this church.
- I am grateful to be her pastor.
Methinks I don't protest too much. Let me put it this way: it is as though I came across an extraordinarily beautiful rose in the wilderness. My task is to appreciate, protect and praise its rare beauty. Along come the developers to suggest digging up this rose's roots in order to plant a whole garden of them. I chase them off because this one rose is all that is needed. I will not kill it for a bigger idea. Along come the horticulturalist experts to tell me how to make it even bigger and more beautiful. I chase them off because they don't appreciate the rose as it already is in all its splendor. I will not change this rose into another one. Along come the insecticide and herbicide specialists and gene-manipulators to tell me how to develop this rose into a stronger strain. I chase them off because they don't realize that letting it be is its best protection. It is strong enough if left alone. Along come the reporters and spin-doctors to make deals on how to publish its praise in a more professional, profitable and marketable way. I chase them off because the rose reports its own beauty.
It is the same with this community. I've seen, I've tried and I've done all kinds of programs and agendas and visions and strategies. They all without exception, I've concluded, do not appreciate what is. They all try to change it and add to it with the best of intentions and the best of efforts, but they do not realize that in the process they destroy it. I feel my primary job as a pastor is to just allow the rose to be the rose, to enjoy it, to praise it, and to let it be. Nothing more. Nothing less. This, in my opinion, is love. This, in my opinion, is what a pastor does: he or she loves his or her people and cares for them. Simple... simple as that!
The fine art photo is the creation of my friend
Jorgen Klausen.
