(Continued from Part 1 and Part 2.)

How often do you wish your pastor was one of the Big Pastors? Perhaps you don’t at all, and come to think of it, I’m not sure I have (that I can remember). Yet surely the hint of temptation is there. It’s a sort of covetousness: I really like my pastor, and thank God for him, but he’s so (insert flaw here) and doesn’t know about (insert favorite doctrine or Christian-practice issue here) and often doesn’t go as deep or isn’t as Big as (insert Big author/pastor’s name here.)

Maybe this is a habit for Christians. It’s the quiet, nagging, often subconscious notion that what we do — in church ministry, home ministry, work ministry or anywhere else God has called us — just isn’t as spiritual. The Bigger Christians, authors, musicians, more-popular pastors and Christian conference speakers, seem to be have much more influence for the Kingdom of Christ.

But according to one of those “bigger” guys himself, Wretched Radio host Todd Friel, Christians should stop that subtle implication. And it can be particularly hard on pastors.

[At the Do Hard Things conference], I ran into a woman. (And I apologized of course, because I almost knocked her over. Thank you.) … White woman, carrying a little black baby. Clearly adopted. I’m no geneticist, but I’m almost certain it was an adopted child.

Now that’s a big thing. That is not gonna make the history books. That is a hard thing. But it doesn’t need to be a spotlight thing. It doesn’t need to be a monstrous thing.

… There’s several groups of people that I think get hammered by this message more than anybody else.

… Let’s start with you, pastor. The pastor gets shellacked constantly with this message. “Hey, what are your numbers? What are your numbers, preacher? How many people you got at your church? How many square feet? How many does your worship center seat? Do, do, do! Get big, big, big!”

And there’s a huge amount of pressure on a pastor to be the biggest in town. And pastor, you feel it, don’t you? A lack of contentment. Just banging out that sermon, 20, 30 hours a week. And you think, “Oh, it seems so small.”

No no — that’s the world telling you it’s a small thing. Do a faithful thing. The hard thing is being faithful to God and growing in holiness.

And pastors are getting just the opposite message, not just from the world, but from the church too — not intentionally, I’m sure. But all the growth conferences: “Get bigger. Do more. How to get published. How to wear these clothes to attract that group. Put on those glasses, and they’ll think you’re nifty, and the numbers will go up.”

There’s huge pressure. Pastor, you resist it. And you do the faithful thing. Do the hard thing of growing in holiness, right where you are.

Tomorrow: For women especially — is political activism superior to being a mother?