Celebrity Preacher

 We just finished our sports camp yesterday with our good friends from First Baptist Church of Hammond, LA who came to help us. Their pastor, Jeff, is a great friend of mine. We only see each other once a year, but pick up where we left off. We tease each other and on a dime can turn serious about real life. He is more than a friend. He is a trusted brother. He is also a practical joker. He pulled off one of his greatest pranks on me yesterday. 

During football camp, one of our campers needed to go to the restroom. I took him to the parsonage because it was closer and waited for him outside. Jeff pops up out of nowhere. I didn't think much about it.  He was up to no good as I would discover later in the day. 

I saw one of our deacons cleaning our marquee, which we have not used in months. I thought that kind of odd. At lunch one of our ladies said we need to put something up on the marquee that will stay there a long time. I was clueless that the damage had already been done about an hour and a half earlier. I'll explain in just a minute. 

Fast forward four hours. We were cleaning up after camp when Jeff's team told me I needed to go outside. I knew there had to be a joke. I walked out reluctantly and suspiciously, but everything appeared to be in order including the blazing heat. They directed my attention to the marquee. I was mortified. Here is what Jeff put up there. 

Come hear celebrity Pastor Matt Edwards Sundays at 11:00 a.m.

On the back side it read, Pasta Edwards Sundays at 11:00 a.m.

Let me address the Pasta Edwards. Many years ago Jeff and I were driving to Dallas along with some other ministers for a training event. We left early on Monday morning. The night before I ate some buttered noodles. Nothing else. Something about that made me sick. I either got food poisoning or a virus. On that four hour drive, I made Jeff pull over on the highway so I could vomit on the side of the road. Each time I got back in the car stating, "I am healed in Jesus name." About fifty miles later we had to pull over again so I could vomit again. Nothing dignified about throwing up on the side of the road while other cars are whizzing by. That happened seven times and now Jeff calls me Pasta Edwards. We both get a laugh out of that. 

Now the other side of the sign. I admit it was a great prank. What mortified me was thinking about all the cars that passed by in the near six hours that message was on the marquee without my knowledge. I AM NOT A CELEBRITY PASTOR. It sickens me to think that anyone would read that sign and think of the arrogance of a church and pastor to put such a message up to be read by those passing by. How many were turned off by such a pompous message. How many Spring Creek people read that and wondered why I would call myself a celebrity pastor? The message meant to be a funny prank horrified me. 

I am no celebrity. Out of all the people God could have chosen in the world to preach His word, it is a head scratcher why He chose me. I certainly did not choose myself. I am rough around the edges. An untamed barbarian in some ways. Not diplomatic. Nor am I eloquent. The messages I preach are passionate but definitely not polished. I have tried to be very careful over the years not to steal God's glory. I know it's Him working through me and not me displaying my talents on stage. 

To think about people seeing that message for six hours makes me sick. Turner took it down before the Hammond team even got out of Parker County on their way back home. 

Any good that has ever come from my ministry has come from Jesus. Not from me. I once served a church as pastor that televised services. I got asked to preach a funeral for one of our families in a neighboring town. When I walked into that church I heard two ladies talking, "I heard that new pastor at FBC Seminole is preaching this funeral. Is he as good as everyone says he is?" Neither lady knew me. As soon as I heard them say that, I prayed, "God it is not me. It is you doing the work. You help me preach. You work in the people's lives. It has nothing to do with me and everything to do with You."

I have always known it is God working through me and not me performing on a stage. He inspires the messages. He opens the scriptures to me. He grants anointing to preach or teach them. He convicts. He saves. He encourages. He blesses. He grows the church. It is all Him. I NEVER want people to think that I am pompous, arrogant, boastful, and braggadocios. I constantly think of [John 3:30] He must increase and I must decrease. Put another way, Jesus is a big deal and I not a big deal at all. 

For anyone who might have seen that sign, I apologize for the message it sent. It was a prank. A very good prank. That is not my heart. I am no big deal at all. I have pastored churches with less than a dozen people in them. Spring Creek does not even have 100 people in attendance most Sundays. I am not a celebrity. JESUS IS THE MAIN ATTRACTION AROUND HERE!