authentic

Today we had our pastors meeting for our section. A section they voted me in to lead (what were they thinking?). I'm always humbled and honored to lead these meetings. My heart has been to steer these meetings from monologue to dialogue. Today we talked through a book called "Confessions of a Pastor." So myself and another pastor talked about the "pastor mystique." This is where everyone expects you to be perfect and you buy into it and wear a mask that ends up hiding your pain. I started off by opening myself up and sharing an issue in my own life. This opened the door for several to confess what they had been carrying. Granted, it was nothing that they would lose their pastorate over, but it was "authentic." We broke up into groups of 2-3 and shared our hearts. I think it was the beginning of something amazing as walls are beginning to come down. We are all human...pastor or not....and it's time we just be real!