Reader Question- Who is your hero?

I've been wondering who Pastors look up to. Let me guess: Jesus? But who else? -Mandy
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Thanks for writing in, Mandy. And, well, yeah, we do look up to Jesus a fair bit. (I, for one, would love to be able to walk into a temple and flip tables and whip people and still be known as the Prince of Peace.)

I've actually been asked, on several occasions, who my "model" for ministry is, and the answer has always been the same; my dad. He's the baseline... when a situation arrives that I need to make some kind of decision on in the church, my first thought is nearly always what Dad would do... and then I either do that thing, or go another way. Our two ministries look quite different from one another, but the fact of the matter is that he is my model.

Which will be nice for him to hear, I am sure, if he is reading this, but doesn't give a lot of information to you all. So I guess I need a high profile answer.

I'm actually not looking to have a Jesus-like ministry. I do try to emulate Christ in how I live my life, but as I have said in previous entries, I am not savior, and not seeking to be one. Christ's ministry did things I do not aspire to do. So if I had to pick an answer that you all would know AND was possibly attainable...

I'd go with the Reverend Fred Rogers.

You really don't need me to sell Mr. Rogers to you, do you? He's a treasure of modern media, But more than that, he's the perfect example of the kind of preacher I want to be. Not necessarily by medium, but by attitude. He loved people without reservation, without worrying that his love was enabling. He taught acceptance over separation, taught curiosity over fear. He went, without hesitation, to the dark places we all assume children can't go to, and showed them simple truths of life, worked to demystify things like hospitals, dentists offices, and even death.

He wasn't the sort who sought to censor. Instead, he worked to offer positive alternatives to the negatives he saw. He vigorously supported the role of media in education, and approached new media, like video games, with the same positively curious attitude that he modeled in all aspects of his life.

He taught people that they were valuable while reminding them that others were, too. The show wasn't about you... it was about your neighborhood. And it was a nice place to be.

If I can teach love over hate, curiosity over fear, enthusiasm over pessimism, and hope over despair, then I believe I will have done my job as a Pastor.