Mastering Pastoral Care

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After a spiritual turning point, a person needs to understand both the glory of an event and the dynamics of the ongoing process of spiritual growth.
—Paul Anderson

Postpartum blues hit more than new mothers.

Our congregation's worship leader and I helped lead music at a praise service for a church convention. Scores of people, some with tears, had come up afterward to tell us how they had appreciated worship. When I returned to my hotel room, I found a note from my colleague, saying, "Praise God. Jesus was glorified this evening. Stand against discouragement—and have a good sleep."

The next day I asked what he meant. He said, "I often battle discouragement after a spiritual high, and yesterday I was flying."

This is not only a personal issue; it's also pastoral. My parishioners enjoy spiritual highs from time to time—at seminars and retreats, in worship, and in dramatic answers to prayer. Those events transform people's hearts and lives.

Yet coming off the mountain can be painful. Ask Peter, James, and John after they had seen their leader transfigured. Peter felt compelled to stretch the moment into a millennium. Do you blame him? On the mountain the disciples probably felt they could invade hell. In the valley they failed at casting out a demon.

So, when God has moved specially in people's lives, what's the pastor's next move? After people have experienced the power and love of God on Sunday, what do we say about Monday? When friends have life-changing encounters, how can the gains of God's special activity be preserved?

The first step is, through preaching and teaching, to put such events in perspective.

Sometimes people need an event to jar them loose from encrusted habits or set them on a new path. ...

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