In Praise of Plow Horses
“Race horses run fast, dazzle audiences, win awards, and then retire to stud. A plow horse lives in a barn if he’s lucky and walks the same furrows every day…. Both of them are horses, but they could not be more different in their daily lives. To turn the analogy to pastors…” - SBC Voices
This is a good reminder and encouragement to be faithful. The article could benefit greatly from a decent proofreader/editor.
I grew up on the farm and I quit farming to become a pastor. One of my favorite jobs on the farm was plowing (modern farming methods have mostly retired the moldboard plow though). I loved plowing because I could look behind the tractor and see that I was doing something as the ground turned over. In ministry, if the work is getting done, we should thank the Lord for the task completed for His glory, rather than the numbers or the recognition.
Further, plowing typically occurred in the fall- long before the planting and a year before the harvest. Some things have to be done to prepare the soil and some things have to be done to prepare people to be ministered to. Just because it is not glamorous does not mean it is not faithful and important.
A final irony is that I am now a multi-vocational pastor and one of my jobs is to install farm drainage tile with a tractor and plow. I definitely feel like a plow horse some days.
Discussion