Words from an older pastor to young adults...

In April 2008, I went on a weekend retreat with the Young Adult Community at my church in Kansas City. Pastor Tom, the senior pastor, came for part of the weekend and shared with us five regrets he had from his twenty-something years. I have found myself coming back to these ideas from time to time since that weekend, and I have been reflecting on them a lot this past week in particular.

Here are the five regrets he shared:

(1) Driven to personally succeed, rather than energized to serve others.

(2) Thought accomplishment was more important than intimacy.

(3) Viewed the local church as optional, rather than essential.

(4) Bought into the Western, Greek idea of life balance (i.e. balanced compartments), rather than the Old Testament, Hebrew idea of life cadence.

(5) Thought about the Christian life as more about getting to heaven, rather than bringing heaven to earth.

Tom's pastoral ministry today focuses on service, intimacy, the essential nature of the local church, life cadence, and bringing heaven to earth.

What do you think? Do you see any of Pastor Tom's five regrets in your own life? (I know I do.) What can we do individually and as a community to grow more like Jesus in these areas?