In His Stead

Paul Gregory Alms on Being Paid to Act Like Jesus

What do pastors do all week? Being a pastor, I get this question every now and then. A few weeks ago, I was visiting a prospective family who had visited our congregation, and the husband, who was not much of a churchgoer, asked me, “So, what do you guys do all week?”

I am always a little nonplussed when someone asks me this. This fellow was a banker with a strong corporate mentality. I wanted to answer, “Well, I sit around a lot and read the Bible and pray and think about God and Jesus and people like you and me.” Which is literally true.

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Paul Gregory Alms (paulgregoryalms.blogspot.com) is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Catawba, North Carolina. He is a graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with both MDiv and STM degrees. He has written extensively for journals such as First Things, Concordia Theological Journal, Lutheran Witness, Lutheran Forum, The Cresset, and others. He is married and the father of four girls.

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