This morning I woke up early. I had a lot on my mind. But the song playing in my head was the old tune, Wild World, by Cat Stevens.

“Oh, baby, baby, it’s a wild world
It’s hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it’s a wild world
I’ll always remember you like a child, girl

You know I’ve seen a lot of what the world can do
And it’s breaking my heart in two
Because I never wanna see you a sad girl
Don’t be a bad girl

But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there’s a lot of bad and beware”

He wrote the song to himself as he was getting ready to leave home and start out on his own career. He had grown up in a religious home…his dad was a Catholic and his mom a Baptist. They lived in London, in the Soho district.

Years later, he converted to Islam and now goes by the name Yusuf Islam.

One of the reasons I got pooped as a pastor was being part of stories like this. Someone you think is getting the gospel; getting faith; getting “living by grace”…maybe even coming out of a traditional religious background… and despite knowing—“I’ve seen a lot of what the world can do…just remember there’s a lot of bad out there (and in you as well, I might add)…oh, baby is a Wild world”.

It breaks my heart in two when they throw it all away. Men and women who decided to throw away years of marriage…years of hard work building a business…years of ministry and “oh baby baby is a wild world”. Sadness, broken lives, devastated hearts.

I’m getting pooped just remembering their faces and stories.

You’ve heard this before I’m sure, but I did feel like I was standing at a cliff warning people, “Beware, I’ve been standing here watching people get too close to the edge and some have slipped, fallen off and been royally messed up. And some smiled and said, “Thank you so much Pastor Tom, that is so kind of you. You are the best pastor I have ever had”, then they walked over to the edge and jumped.

If you are pastor of people…I mean you love them and care for them, it’s going to break your heart in two when people jump off. I don’t have any easy made answers to the heartache. Love hurts…sometimes a lot. One way to find comfort in the pain is to remember that you are not responsible for their actions. Another is to remember that the “God of all grace” can find them at the bottom and bring them out of the pit. That’s where he finds all of us.

Tom Wood has been a pastor for 25 years. He has planted and pastored two churches and has served as a church planting trainer and coach for the Presbyterian Church in America. He is currently the president of Church Multiplication Ministries, in Atlanta. His mission is starting, strengthening and multiplying grace centered churches and church planting networks, through coaching and consults with church planting pastors, leaders and emerging leaders.

In need of encouragement? Subscribe to Tom’s weekly dose of grace at GracedAgain.com.

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