Monday Not Funday

Mondays are never popular with people. The weekend is over and work begins again with the promised land of Friday five long days away. For the pastor, Monday is often a day off but for a host of reasons, there is very little joy in having reached our ‘weekend’. Monday is the day on which many pastors consider leaving their post. Monday is the day on which all of our fears, concerns, and doubts come crawling out of the woodwork and infest our depleted souls. Monday is definitely not a fun day.

The vocational pastor’s focus during the week is often looking forward to the big event of the week, the worship service or services. A message must be prepared and a worship service crafted around the big idea of the sermon. While there are other pastoral duties that are assumed during the week, the big event takes most of our energy. Anticipation builds as Sunday gets closer; is the sermon ready? Has the music been selected and rehearsed? Are the video feed, the worship software presentation, and the Sunday school ready to go? Finally, Sunday arrives and the big moment comes. God’s word is preached with all the power given by the Spirit. People are moved, lives are changed, men and women are transformed and through all of the changed people the world is shaken and all of its ills are ended.

And then Monday morning arrives. The pastor sits back, sipping their coffee and wondering if their work had any effect at all. We wonder why God has called us to this position. Week after week we pour our lives into loving our flocks and seeking to infuse their lives with God’s will. Did the message or music change anything at all? Are we as men and women of God inadequate to the task? Are we going to face the same problems in our folks that we did the week before? Thoughts like these and countless others swirl through our minds, discouraging us if things are going badly and stirring doubt where things are on an upward trend. Head in hands, the pastor looks forward to Tuesday.

Ahhh, Tuesday. A new week dawns and a new message invites us back into the Word. Hope springs anew that the message this week will be the one to help this person or initiate change in that person. I can’t wait until Sunday!