I took this picture early last Sunday morning. We were preparing for worship and the winter sun had risen just enough to shine through the east side of our stained glass. Between our beautiful stained glass rise columns that set the foundation for our building. The light hit a couple of the stained glass pictures in a way that it reflected off our recently painted white columns creating a blurred mirror image. It was awe-inspiring in the moment.
As I have chewed on that picture this week it reminded me of the Christ following journey. As pastors our primary job is to follow Jesus, and to imitate His words and deeds as best we can in our contexts in the 21st century. Sometimes we do this well. Sometimes we miss the mark. We reflect Jesus, but often times we are a blurred vision of Jesus.
Where pastors go wrong is when they start to look down at the beauty God has put in their life and think, “wow, look at me! Look at the platform I have! I must be special.” I doubt many of us actually say it like that, but it happens far to often. We are reflections of the true Light of the World. Nothing more. So pastors, as we light Advent candles this weekend, point people to the true Light and away from our blurred reflection. Look forward to the day when that blurred reflection will become clear, not because of us, but because of the Grace given to us.