The Funny Life of a Pastor

I don't know how many times I've been in a situation where I thought, "They should make a sitcom of my life." Believe it or not, there are lots of funny things that pastors deal with in ministry. From some off-the-wall people to ministry misconceptions, there are many times that I just find myself laughing, usually inappropriately.

One time, I was taking a group of about 50 students home from a week at camp. We stopped off at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, the kids all jumped out to use the facilities and buy some snacks for the road, and I started to fill-up the vans. That's when I read the sign that said, "Cash Only" and I thought, "Oh NO, there's no way I can fill up these vans with the change in my pockets." Immediately, I ran into the convenience store and started telling the kids to go load up, we wouldn't be sticking around. Some of them, of course, were already in line for the bathroom and asked if they could just finish up. The guy who ran the store got in my face, accused us of stealing things and said no one could use the bathroom. I couldn't believe it. It was like something out of bad cartoon. So, my response was to laugh (I was only about 27 at the time, but I'd still probably do the same thing today). And here's the classic quote that he said to me: "Everything's funny to funny boys like you." Yes, he nailed me. It's probably a defense mechanism, but my response to problems is to laugh or at least to smile.

If you want to check out an inside look at the funny life of a pastor, you can set your DVR to record this week's episode of "Pastor Greg" this Friday night at 1:00am on TBN. This week's show was written by TCC's own very funny screenwriter, Mike Reid. (Disclaimer: Any resemblance to any actual pastor, either living or dead, is purely intentional.)