After my earlier post about confrontation, I received a number of emails from readers who asked me, “if greeting is so hard on pastors, why greet?”. As I mentioned, most pastors I know of larger churches don’t greet anymore, and there’s a lot of logic and wisdom for this. I don’t think there’s any “right” answer on this, but here’s my thoughts as to why I continue to greet on the weekends…
Teaching and leading the church are my primary roles at Palm Valley. There are tons of people (everyone) who can greet. I’m uniquely called to teach. Honestly, there are so many Sundays where people come to me with complaints, issues, crisis, angry or mean words; all things that I often just can’t (and shouldn’t) deal with right before I’m teaching. These things drain me emotionally, cause me to lose focus, or sometimes just plain make me feel hurt or angry.
However, I still greet. Why? In short, because I love to be with the people I’m called to pastor. I love to say hi. I love to high 5 the kids and pretend they hurt my hand. I love to pray with people about things going on in their life. I love to hear how God’s growing people. I love to meet people who are new to Palm Valley. I love to celebrate with people whom God is blessing.
I also feel like I’m gifted at connecting with people, and I want to utilize every gift God has given me. I have the ability to connect with people I’ve never met and help them feel comfortable.
As we’ve grown larger, I have had to become less accessible during the week (another blog I’ll write this week). I really enjoy being with our people on the weekend, I feel like it keeps me connected. I’m looking forward to some weekends coming up where I’m not teaching, and I’ll simply be hanging out.
So, if you’re a church leader… I think you need to pray about your leadership style and determine whether or not greeting works for you. I believe every leader needs to use his giftedness and staff to his weaknesses. I’ve talked to a number of pastors who just feel drained after they greet, and don’t feel like they’re effective at teaching after this. Again, you have to focus on the most important roles you have as a pastor, and not feel guilty about the things you can’t do.
If you attend Palm Valley… please know that I love being your pastor, and I cherish that role God has given me in your life. I really enjoy getting to know you. Sometimes though, I just can’t be available to everyone. That’s why it’s so critical we all get involved and function as a body. Our church isn’t built around me, nor everyone knowing me (it’s impossible). We’ll truly all be stronger in our faith when we all utilize our gifts, express love and encouragement to one another, and meet each other’s needs. I hope you know my heart in this.
