One thing that is odd about the spiritual gift of pastoring is that no one really knows what they are looking for when it comes to communicating with other people about God. The spiritual gift of pastoring is a characteristic that people can embody (or not embody). To me, it is when someone sees God in situations when others do not realize His presence. When it comes to people, there is no perfect example of how people should act. God is relatively abstract in the concepts of frequency of being brought up or the “correct” thing to say.
The other day I was walking from the seminary (where we were going to have a worship service for orientation). I saw one of the admin staff of the YAGM program preparing for his/her sermon that he/she was going to give. I found him/her anxious about giving this message as he/she was running through the final stages of preparation. I offered him/her my opinion of what I do to prepare for a sermon. I always pray to help me find peace of mind in my presentation. I then offered to pray with him/her. He/she genuinely appreciated it. As I realized the words coming from my mouth, I felt uncomfortable. Not an uncomfortable feeling that is socially inappropriate or an offensive feeling, but an uncomfortable feeling in knowing that I was helping someone else to find peace. It was a discomfort in the fact that I was doing something that is “correct” and helpful to someone else. I found peace in this situation, like I might have been doing what God calls me to do.
Pastors should try and embody the spiritual gift of pastoring more than others. This awkward feeling should be more frequent for pastors because they should be the example of pastoring. I am not sure if this feeling gets easier over time and with more experience. Ways to practice pastoring would be to bring up the idea of prayer (before meals or in times of confusion or trial), and abstract ideas of God more frequently. Everyone expects that around strong Christians, God is a concept kept quiet. This is true especially in the United States; personal independence is promoted and commemorated. I do not think that this concept is as prestigious among other cultures. Community and interdependence is much more common. This also means that faith is not a personal relationship with God, but shared between communities. I am still wrestling with what this looks like but think this a better way to promote our faith because in community we can get a better look at the “true identity” of God by hearing, viewing and ultimately adopting other’s visions of God. When coming together in mutuality, we can better see eye to eye with people and have a more centralized view of religion.
