Pastor and Professor

Most people who go to church regularly have some idea of what the pastor does:  He (and most are men) preaches sermons, visits the sick and studies the Bible.  But very few people get to walk with the pastor throughout the week. Thus they do not experience the stresses and rewards that the pastor lives with on a daily basis.  In their eyes, the pastor is morally and ethically one or two steps above the average church member.  But in Pastor and Professor the pastor comes alive as a normal human being struggling to live and share the Biblical message with the congregation. Pastor and Professor invites the reader to live with the pastor as he visits the sick (and deals with his own health struggles).  They know he preaches sermons, but they seldom wonder about why did he preach that sermon this week.  Pastor and Professor allows you to look over the pastor’s shoulder as he wrestles with Biblical truth and tries to create a human message biblical message of God’s truth in  our day.   How does the pastor give life to the scriptures when he is struggling with his own life, when he sometimes has doubts about what God is doing, and wonders how do you possibly inspire others when you have questions about your own faith.      The pastor is often helped when he remembers that the God, he is trying to explain to the congregation actually took on human form in Jesus and literally lived on the earth being one with humanity at a critical time in human history.   Blosser sees the role of the pastor as living among the members of the congregation, sharing in their humanity, being a healthy, human presence as members struggle with the moral and social dilemmas of being human.  Thus the pastor is one with members of the congregation, not one who is above all others in their daily living.    Blosser is not afraid to share his own doubts, successes and failures as he walked with members who were struggling with life and had their doubts about where God was when they needed God the most.  Blosser experiences God as a living presence in our midst who is experienced best as we share together in following Jesus. Having doubts and painful struggles are not indication of a weak faith, but are the first steps in a growing mature faith.  Jesus is seen as the living human presence of God who also wrestles with life, but offers hope; who is criticized but continues on with his life mission; who celebrates the presence of God within the gathered faith community.