Stumps to mow around

“I read a helpful illustration somewhere about the nature of pastoral ministry. The illustration likens ministry to mowing around a troublesome stump in your yard. Ultimately things would be easier if the stump were removed and you could just mow a straight path. But uprooting the thing might cause more trouble than it’s worth and so you just learn to mow around the stump. People and preferences are like this. There are hills to die on and there are stumps to mow around.”

-- Mike Leake