Your church is looking for a new preaching pastor. You hear of a man in another state who is well-known for his preaching. You listen to several of his sermons and you concur that he is one of the finest preachers you have ever heard. He is also good at mentoring younger pastors.
As you learn more about his character you learn about some potential question marks:
1. He has several physical problems. He has both arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. He has a kidney problem and some trouble with circulation in his feet. He is only 45. Last year he had to take several Sundays off, unexpectedly, due to health problems. In fact, he was gone much of the winter to a warmer climate because of his health needs.
2. His wife has health problems that limit her time out of the house. She rarely gets to church.
3. He has severe anxiety and depression. Once while preaching at an evangelistic service in a large building, someone yelled fire and started a stampede. 7 people were killed. Since then he has anxiety attacks frequently. He takes medications for depression. He struggles with dark thoughts from time to time.
4. He is markedly overweight. He admits he finds comfort in food. He also smokes cigars daily. He is not physically fit.
So, would you hire him? Could you overlook his health problems because he is such a great preacher.
Tomorrow I’ll reveal this pastor’s name.
Musings on Faith and Psychology 
I think I know who this is, but I’ll wait until tomorrow and not kill the suspense. This kind of story is similar to the one about the kid with all the learning disabilities and academic problems, who turned out to be Albert Einstein….or the kid with all the horrible health problems that the more liberal minded would have chosen to abort, who turned out to be Ludwig Van Beethoven. For those hiring managers who continue to apply the “spaghetti on the wall” theory of candidate selection, I’m still willing to bet that the characteristics of this preacher would cause one to predict he’d slide off prematurely and not provide much hope for future success. Looking forward to seeing whether my guess on his identity is correct!
Well, I saw who it was on my RSS Feed…but I’d hire the guy anyway. I mean, he’s upfront about his issues and vulnerable. I like that in a pastor.
I think I know who it is too but will check later to see for sure. There’s also an illustraton like this about Abraham Lincoln and even one about Jesus (cause some pulpit comittees would not even hire Jesus if they just got His resume!!)
Thanks for the fun,
Mark
I found you while searching for a site on “would you hire Jesus to be your pastor?” Based on all that Jesus was, did, and said, few would. I’m preaching on Matthew 11 this week and saw some correlation in John the Baptist’s skepticism of the teachings and controversial doings of Jesus that led him to send his disciples to confirm that in fact Jesus was who he once thought. His agenda for Jesus didn’t fit his pre-conceived notions of what the Savior should look like. Of course, us members of the 21st century American church are the same.