For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. ~Psalm 107:9

When I was preparing to apply for seminary, my mentor gave me the greatest advice I never followed. He said, “When you get there, go find a job bartending.”

Unfortunately, I got caught up in classes, flag football, Lost, and over-intellectualized conversations, and never got around to bartending. But his point was clear—that’s where my education would really be put into practice. That’s where the theory of the Gospel meets the reality of life—out among the people.

In ministry, the needs, hurts, and questions of real people come fast, often out of nowhere. There’s no time to do a google search, cross-reference scripture, or sit with a theological textbook. These are raw, urgent moments that demand an immediate promise of the Gospel, the mercies of God, and the grace of forgiveness—not an essay.

Here are just a few of the questions I’ve been asked—out of the blue, in real life. Any pastor has their own list:

• What scriptures can I draw on while I’m going through chemotherapy?
• My friend has an eating disorder. What can you do to help?
• We ended up having sex. Will God forgive me? What about my future spouse?
• I’ve struggled with a porn addiction since I was 15. Why can’t I get free from it?
• I’m on my way to have an abortion and I need to know if God will forgive me?
• My brother committed suicide yesterday. Is he in heaven?
• What parts of the Bible do I need to take seriously?
• If you’re a pastor, why won’t you give me money? Aren’t Christians supposed to help people?
• He left. He walked out. Can you get him back?

There’s no time to retreat to the pastor’s study, to schedule a coffee three weeks from now or to use big words without offering practical truth.

Ministry isn’t studied in a vacuum; it’s lived. It happens when life collides with life. As pastors, our responsibility is to bear witness to Jesus Christ in those moments. To do that, we must spend our days immersed in Scripture and in people’s lives.

The role of a pastor is simple: Love God and love people. The challenge is that we all tend to tilt toward one side of that equation. In preaching, some lean toward loving God—crafting theologically rich sermons, ensuring worship is Christ-centered, and avoiding emotionalism. Others lean toward loving people—delivering engaging, relatable messages that feel more like self-help talks. In pastoral care, some offer a theological treatise on suffering, while others sit in quiet vigil at a bedside. In youth ministry, some focus on catechism, while others just hang out with students.

That’s why I should have listened to my mentor. A job in the service industry—where the demands of people are immediate and constant—would have sharpened my ability to love both God and people. If I had worked as a bartender, I wouldn’t have kept business books behind the bar like Brian Flanagan in Cocktail—I would have kept Scripture.

I love Eugene Peterson’s phrase: Eat this book. Scripture should be our sustenance—we should be nourishing our souls, devouring our devotions, giving out samples to our neighbors, and gorging on the goodness of God. Like a waiter delivering a carefully prepared meal, we must recognize the hunger in the person before us and respond with the Bread of Life:

“Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)

As a church planter, do you tend to lean toward loving God—surveying the landscape, convinced your theological framework is better packaged, more accurate, more true? Or do you lean toward loving people—simply gathering them around a potluck and calling it church?