Let me say this plainly: I love the people of Grace Fellowship Church. I totally felt what John Piper was saying in a recent interview on his experience as a pastor at Bethlehem:
I never felt that I was the church’s privilege, but that she is mine. To be at Bethlehem was gift, all gift.
I have felt that to be my reality in increasing measure since we planted, almost three years ago now. And I know that Paul, my fellow pastor, feels the same way.
That being said, I have known enough churches and enough pastors over
the years to realize that the relationship between pastor and
congregation isn’t always exclusively a love-in. Even in the privileged
ministry that the Lord has given me, there have been opportunities for
anger, strife, malice, bitterness, and all the rest of that to take
root.
So how do we fight those temptations when they come? Here are some
ways I’ve found helpful to grow in love for the members of the church: Continue at Julian Freeman
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