Pastors were never called to pastor all the people in all the churches in all the places. Nor were we called to be abreast of every theological tiff and methodological squabble happening in Christendom. The apostle Peter gives pastors a word of exhortation in 1 Peter 5:2 that is so freeing. “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you.” Pastor your church.

One Sunday as I stood at the front of the sanctuary I was approached by a church member.

“Do you have a moment?”, she asked.

I cut my eyes up to the screens that had giant numbers counting down the seconds to the start of the service.

“I have 2 minutes and 47 seconds according to the countdown,” I replied with a smile.

“I just wanted you to know sister so-and-so’s mother’s surgery went well. She should go home from the hospital tomorrow.”

I tilted my head to the side and with an obvious look of confusion I said, “I didn’t even know she was in the hospital.”

Instinctively and indignantly, she retorted, “How could you not know? It was all over Facebook!”

And there it was. No one had told me. There had been no phone call, no text, no email. Not so much as a carrier pigeon or smoke signal. It didn’t matter that this sweet woman who was hospitalized didn’t attend our church or live in our town! I was supposed to know. It wasn’t enough for the God of the universe to be omniscient. As a pastor, I was expected to be all-knowing as well.

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