Tyshawn Gardner said he and his sons and nephew play Monopoly fiercely. But no matter what happens, at the end of the game, all the pieces go back in the box.
The same goes for everything here on earth, the things that can pull a pastor’s focus away from his identity in Christ.
‘It’s all going back in the box’
“We need to know that when our ministry and life is all over, it’s all going back in the box,” said Gardner, senior pastor of Plum Grove Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa and vice president for student affairs at Stillman College. “Nobody takes anything beyond this life.”
Preaching from Matthew 6:25–34, Gardner told those present at the Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference in Decatur on Nov. 15 that a pastor’s identity in Christ is the antidote for anxiety.
“A quest to make God proud sometimes turns into activities that drain the soul,” he said. “I’ve come today to encourage you through the word of the Lord, that when our identity is found on the Caller and not the calling, we will experience life in Christ.”
Keeping the right perspective
Most of a pastor’s worries come from having the wrong perspective, Gardner said.
“Many times as pastors our lives can be defined not in our values but in our valuables,” he said. “You are valuable, pastor, not because of where you pastor or the size of your church or the letters behind or in front of your name. You are valuable in Christ and because of the Person who lives inside of you.”
In a Q&A time after his message, Blake Kersey — 2021 Pastors Conference president and pastor of the host church, First Baptist Church Decatur — asked Gardner additional questions submitted by the audience.
One addressed why pastors struggle with keeping their identity in Christ. Gardner said he feels like pastors may feel pressure to keep up with expectations and that effort pulls them away from Christ.
“The world around us is a world where people expect not only results but they want it fast,” he said. “I think sometimes we get caught up in the values of the world that are not bad values … but the more we get into those things we find ourselves gradually pulling away from Christ and Christ is no longer at the center.”
A strong personal devotional life can help with that, Gardner said.
“Staying in the word reminds me of who Christ called me to be,” he said, noting that purpose is different than productivity.
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