The Hardest Job of All
Dear Friends,
Last week I came across an article with that title, and thought I’d better read it. What do you think it says is the hardest job of all? A parent? A teacher? A doctor? An MP? Those would all be good candidates. However, given that the article appeared in the latest edition of Churchman, it does narrow the field somewhat.
Peter Jensen has been the principal of a theological college and also an archbishop. “But,” he writes, “I have never done the hardest job of all. That is, I have never been the chief minister of a church.” Naturally, my chest puffed with pride when I read those words!
He believes the particular challenge is that “it is very hard to preach well over many years in the same place to the same group of people.” Why? Because it requires a knowledge of the Scriptures, of the culture and of one’s people which is constantly growing, along with a personal submission to the truths preached that people can see.
I am not writing this so that you will feel sorry for me. I do enough of that myself! Rather, so that we may understand what the minister’s task is and help to make sure that it is done and done well. When it is, we all flourish, and when it isn’t, we all suffer.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)
17 November 2019