Time has changed the way people view pastors. Perhaps we're not lumped with scam artists or manipulative fundraisers, but we face an Olympic challenge to earn respect, credibility, and authority.
— Haddon Robinson

I attend a Bible study with business executives, and recently one man commented that in all the years he had been in business his pastor had never visited him at his office.

"It's just as well," said another. "A minister would feel out of place in my office." Since I consider myself a minister, I pressed him to explain.

"Most ministers I know come across best visiting the hospital or working in the church environs. That's their turf." He went on to say that he saw the world of the pastor and the world of business people as very different. "The pastor is used to working alone or with a small staff, and his interest is relationships. The world of business is a more impersonal atmosphere dominated by people who put an emphasis on the bottom line.

"Pastors do pretty well with issues ...