PASTORS ARE TOUGHER THAN YOU KNOW.

I don’t think most people have the slightest idea how tough a pastor can be. Not even their closest friends or board members.

Years ago, I remember hearing about a book that ranked the toughest jobs in America. Near the top were the jobs you’d expect—the President of the United States, the CEO of a major corporation, the administrator of a hospital.

And then came one that surprised everybody.

PASTOR.

But here’s the thing.

If God called you to it, the ministry isn’t nearly as impossible as it looks from the outside.

Because when God calls a man, God builds something into him.

Pastors are tough.

I’m talking rawhide tough.

I once knew of a Presbyterian pastor in California who preached with a gun on him.

Literally.

The man was packing heat while he was preaching the Gospel.

He had previously worked in a federal law-enforcement capacity—something along the lines of the FBI—and even in retirement he could potentially be called back into service in extraordinary circumstances involving terrorists, serial killers, and serious threats.

The man knew danger.

He knew pressure.

He knew how ugly this world could get.

And then Sunday came.

He stood behind a pulpit.

TOUGH AS NAILS.

But humble.

And that’s what I’m talking about.

I’ve met pastors with hearts made out of rawhide.

Hearts tough enough to survive betrayal.

Tough enough to survive criticism.

Tough enough to preach Sunday morning after getting knocked flat on Saturday night.

Tough enough to stand behind a pulpit and tell everybody else that God is faithful while they’re fighting a private war nobody in the congregation knows exists.

But here’s the miracle.

That same rawhide heart is still soft enough for the tears of one hurting church member to penetrate it.

That’s a pastor.

Hard enough to take the hit. Soft enough to feel yours.

He’ll sit beside your hospital bed.

He’ll stand beside your casket.

He’ll answer the telephone when your world falls apart.

He’ll pray for your marriage.

He’ll worry about your children.

He’ll carry your secrets.

He’ll carry your grief.

He’ll carry your questions.

And sometimes he’ll carry all of that while carrying a load of his own that would buckle somebody else’s knees.

Then Sunday comes.

He walks through the doors.

Straightens himself up.

Puts a smile on his face.

Steps behind that pulpit.

And says:

“OPEN YOUR BIBLES.”

Because pastors get hurt too.

Pastors get disappointed.

Pastors get tired.

Pastors get misunderstood.

Pastors get wounded by people they loved, defended, prayed for, and trusted.

And sometimes the pastor bleeds.

But he bleeds walking forward.

Maybe that’s the old Timex commercial—“takes a licking and keeps on ticking.”

Or maybe I’m dating myself.

Either way, you get the point.

PASTORS KEEP GOING.

Not because they’re Superman.

Not because they don’t hurt.

Not because they don’t occasionally sit alone somewhere wondering how much more they’ve got left in the tank.

They keep going because THE HOLY ONE LIVES INSIDE THEM.

There’s an anointing that lets a pastor walk into a room carrying his own storm and somehow change the atmosphere for everybody else.

He walks in carrying a burden—

and starts lifting yours.

He walks in needing prayer—

and starts praying for you.

He walks in needing encouragement—

and starts encouraging everybody else.

That’s ministry.

And that’s why I’m saying this today.

This isn’t about me.

Not in any way, shape, or form.

This is for that pastor somewhere who got hit this week and will preach anyway.

For that pastor carrying something nobody knows about.

For that pastor who buried somebody, counseled somebody, prayed with somebody, got criticized by somebody—and still has a sermon to preach.

For that pastor who has discovered that sometimes the shepherd walks with a limp…

BUT HE STILL LEADS THE SHEEP.

So today—

GOD BLESS THE AMERICAN PASTOR.

God bless every pastor standing behind a pulpit when nobody knows what it cost him to get there.

GOD BLESS THE PASTORS OF ILLINOIS.

And God bless every Church of God pastor who will stand up one more time, open that Bible one more time, preach Jesus one more time, pray one more prayer, fight one more battle, and tell hell—

I’M STILL HERE. IF YOU WANNA GET TO MEMBERS OF MY CONGREGATION, YOU GOTTA GO THROUGH ME!

In Jesus’ name.

AMEN.