One Sunday a few weeks ago, one of my best preacher friends was in the worship crowd at Good Shepherd.
He had recently retired but had not yet moved to the city that will be his home in retirement.
So I badgered him into attending Good Shepherd before the move.
Now know this: most of us preachers hear each other talk about ministry, but we rarely see each other actually in ministry.
And on that Sunday, once my friend and his wife were safely seated, I became riddled with insecurity:
What if he doesn’t like it?
What if I’ve talked a bigger game than I deliver?
What if the people around him aren’t engaged? Or worse, what if they never laugh?
What if he follows his visit with a ‘suggestions for improvement’ email?
But a glorious thing happened with it came time to preach: I didn’t think about my friend at all. In fact, I had such eagerness for the topic — it was the launch of Crash Test Dummies — that I truthfully could not wait to get going.
So once I began preaching, my faded from significance as the Gospel took his place.
Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?