My Greatest Asset ...

Some years ago my District Superintendent asked me a question, “Do you know what your greatest asset as a pastor is?” I quickly responded “my wife”. He smiled and said that was a good answer but it wasn’t what he was thinking. Let me insert that he was not being derogatory toward my wife as you will soon realize and know that I do believe my wife is a big asset in my ministry and life. But that is for another post. My DS (District Superintendent for the uninitiated) then said that he believed my greatest asset as a pastor was my father.

He was on to something. I am blessed in many ways and one of my greatest blessings is my Dad. He is a great Dad. He was a tremendous example of what it means to be a follower of Christ. He lived his faith everyday. He showed me how a godly husband and father looked and lived. He was my pastor for the first 19+ years of my life. I consider myself blessed to have had him as my pastor. I never really thought about it while it was happening but my Dad was teaching me about being a pastor each day of my life.

For the past 29+ years I have been in ministry and it is a rare month when I don’t receive some wisdom about pastoring or churches from my Dad. Often I am asking him a direct question and other times he is simply making an observation from which I learn. I am in awe of what he sees and senses about ministry. The churches he pastored are well aware of his ministry wisdom. My son and son-in-law are ministering in a church my Dad pastored over 40 years ago and they hear stories and compliments regularly about his ministry in that church. I have had times when someone who knows my Dad has commented to me that I remind them of my Dad. That is one of greatest compliments I can imagine receiving.

Back to my DS, he explained that he believed my Dad was my greatest asset because I could refer to him when I had questions about ministry. He went on shared that many pastors don’t have that kind of resource and that they didn’t have the example growing up that I enjoyed. Too often I have taken for granted the great resource that my Dad has been in my life, after all he is my Dad. As I said, I believe my DS is on to something.

So here is to my Dad, (one of)my greatest assets as a pastor, as a husband, as a father, as a follower of Christ and as an all-around good guy.

Thanks Dad.