Sometimes when I look back I realize I spent a lot of time as pastor trying to keep some of the programs of the church functioning.  Most of what I did was done in the strength of my flesh.  I didn’t have a real mandate from the Lord.  The people were not really interested in the program.  But I felt I had to keep it going because that is the way it had “always” been.

    I remember trying to develop a vital “program” of visitation at one church.  I planned and promoted and enlisted people to be involved.  And it seemed to work.  Week by week we had groups going out to share.  We gained some new members in our church, so I redoubled my efforts.  The group going out each week grew in number.  So I pushed harder.

    But after a number of months went by, I began to feel uneasy.  I began to wonder if the Lord was doing anything, or if I was doing it all.  After a while, I became convinced the people were simply sold on a program I was pushing.  So I decided to test it out.  I quit pushing.  And within two or three weeks the whole “program” died.  The people were not really being prompted by the Spirit to reach people.  They were being motivated by the pastor to work a “program.”  And when I quit, they quit.

    Recently I saw a sign on the highway that said, “If the horse is dead, get off.”  I think that is some good advice.  I should have done that in those long ago days.  My time and energy would have been better spent in prayer that the Spirit would stir the hearts of some people to do what needed to be done.

    I have not been a pastor since 1980.  I have had lots of time to reflect on my pastorates, and to decide how I should have done some things differently.  But that doesn’t help me a lot, since I don’t anticipate ever being a pastor again.  I can’t even share my “wisdom” with other pastors, because very few are open to suggestions.

    But I can apply what I know to my present circumstances.  There are some things I am not doing that ought to be done.  And there are some things I continue to do that have no reason for being done, or for being done the way I do them.  I am trying to grow even as I am getting older.  But growth involves change, and most of us resist change.

    So I keep that bit of good advice in mind, and try to live by it:  If the horse is dead, get off!