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Perils of Shepherds: Chutes & Ladders
A look at life and ministry.
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Perils of Shepherds: Chutes & Ladders

  04/26/13 05:43, by , Categories: Living Life, Theology Lived, Pastors

There are men for whom being a pastor is the realization of a dream.   For me it was more of the realization of a nightmare.  :)  Ok, that is a bit dramatic, but it is true that not only did I not aspire to be a pastor, especially a senior pastor, but I actively avoided it.  At the age of 17, when asked what I wanted to do, I confidently declared, "I will never be a teacher, a preacher or work with teens."  You see how that turned out!   As I worked with teens and became a youth pastor, I was thankful that I wasn't a senior pastor.  They had more responsibilities, more work, more headaches, and less fun (from my perspective).  I got to play laser tag, mission impossible, and eat a lot of pizza.  I knew of other youth pastors who were putting in their time on their way to "having their own church."   Not me, I didn't want to move on to other things.

Over the years, God slowly expanded my vision and His ministry.  Turns out all those teenagers had parents.  They needed shepherding too.  Turns out the teens also turned into adults that still needed  discipleship.  To this day, God has not called me out of youth ministry but he greatly expanded the areas He called me to work in.   Despite even what some people have thought or assumed, I still have never wanted to be a senior pastor, but God pushed and thrust me into that role and has called me to try to be faithful.  Each day I am reminded how inadequate I am to that task and have to hang on to the Holy Spirit for dear life just to survive the ministry!

Ambition is still wired into me, as it is in all of us.  I still have a human heart that craves recognition, position, and power.  Being recognized and given a position feels good.  In fact, that is a problem.  The problem is that I have been made a citizen of a kingdom that works on a principle opposite of the world that I was born and raised in.   There is a kids game that I have played before called "Chutes & Ladders."  In the game you want to climb the ladders and avoid the Chutes which set you back.  To win you need to climb to the top.  Look at the game board; climbing a ladder makes you happy, going down a chute makes you sad.  Awesome.  Jesus said,

"So the last shall be first, and the first last." (Matthew 20:16)
Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." (Mark 9:35)

Our flesh is now wired in opposition to God's kingdom. This basic rewiring can really trip us up. We like ladders and hate chutes.Chutes are bad and are to be avoided.  Except that in Jesus' kingdom the quickest way to progress is the chute.  The ladder is a losing proposition.  It leads me away from Christlikeness, from servanthood, from love.   When I look up the ladder, I'm not looking toward heaven but away from Christ.

Satan's whole fall is linked to his desire to climb.  Jesus' greatest triumph was being reduced from an eternal God to a suffering, dying accused criminal.    Each day I need to walk away from the ladders that I am constantly attracted to and walk toward the chutes that I instinctively avoid.  I need to seek out chutes, those chances to humble myself and be lower than those around me.   I need to remember that the only good ladder is one that puts me in a position to go down a bigger slide.  I need to remember that as a kid, the best part wasn't the climb, but the slide.

"Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. "But the greatest among you shall be your servant. "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. (Matthew 23:10-12)
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A look at life and ministry.

About the Author

After growing up in Maine, Ira graduated from Bible College and wandered into Western Maine and has never found his way back out. He has a deep love for the rural churches of Maine and the people who make up this great state. He loves Truth over Tradition, Christ over Culture, and People over Process. He love to equip, teach, and disciple and longs to see the Maine church grow healthy and make disciples.


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