Pastoral Transitions Fall 1983

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A headline in Bottom Line, a respected management newsletter, announces, "The best advice I ever got." Here are some samples from the article.

Sirio Maccioni, owner of Le Cirque, New York's super-chic restaurant: "Do your best, your very best."

Cameron Meraj, president of the top-selling Century 21 firm in the country: "Working hard isn't enough-you have to work smart."

Betty Friedan, feminist, author, lecturer: "The best advice I ever got? 'This above all: to thine own self be true.' Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3."

Do your best. Work smart. Be true to yourself. By now you may be questioning my psychological health, or at least my intellectual depth, for printing such cliches. They seem inappropriate to an issue devoted to pastoral transitions. At first brush, I would agree.

Just last week I sat with a pastor who has been offered an exciting, challenging opportunity quite different from his present successful situation. He is in agony over his decision. If he accepts, he suspects the transition and new responsibilities will bring considerable change to his life and his family. If he declines, he refuses what may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As we talked, I was at a loss for meaningful words. Well-worn phrases would have been insulting; well-known Scriptures would have been . . . well, well known. "My wife and I will be praying for you" seemed trite. What advice would help a friend staring toward transition?

In spite of the dilemmas this issue's theme articles present, I find myself returning to the cliches of the "best-advice-I-ever-got" column. Let me share some thoughts.

Do your best. Seldom have I met a pastor or Christian leader who wasn't doing his or her best. However, most were spending a disproportionate amount of time ...

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