As a pastor your job is filled with blessings and satisfaction, as well as unique challenges and pitfalls. Here a ministry veteran covers virtually all of those areas with a wealth of practical insight culled from 44 years in the pastorate. Blending his deep love of the Word and commitment to biblical ministry, Curtis Thomas offers a rich source of help and encouragement that will enthuse and benefit you whether you've pastored for five years or 50.
Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
â1 TIMOTHY 5:22
It takes a long time to get to know people well. For that reason it is a good practice for a church to grow its own elders/pastors. By that I mean that the congregation should seek to be aware of those men in its midst who may think they are being called into the ministry. As these men are recognized by the congregation, they should be given the opportunity to teach and to lead ministries within the local body. If they meet the biblical qualiïŹcations, have a desire for the ministry, and prove themselves over a period of time, the church will then be in a position to observe their progress and formally ordain them.
This enables the church to select men who have proven themselves as they have lived before the congregation. It takes time to know a personâs ïŹtness for the ministry, to know his theology, to know how he responds to different situations, to know his personal walk before the Lord, and to know how he might shepherd the ïŹock. Perhaps an elder/pastor training program would be helpful in which the person serves unofïŹcially in that role until the church has opportunity to assess the personâs overall qualiïŹcations.
This close relationship is not always possible. In some situations congregations ïŹnd themselves with men who either do not desire the leadership or with men who are not qualiïŹed for the ministry. In that case outside candidates must be sought. While certain background and reference checks can be made, men whose qualities are unknown are often brought before the congregation. If we are pastoral candidates, we must be painfully honest. We must be completely open about our weaknesses as well as our strengths.
This process of choosing men from outside the congregation has often caused undue pain for both the candidate and the church. When men have been chosen who are not right for a church, after a few months it becomes apparent, and either there is a breakup of the relationship or the disillusioned pastor continues on with an unhappy church.
The remedy is to take whatever time is necessary initially to make sure all available information is on the table. The theological positions must be matched. The preaching style, pastoral objectives, methods, and worship form must be acceptable. The salary and beneïŹts must be clearly agreed upon. The pastorâs family must be known. If there are any lingering problems in the church, they must be laid bare before the candidate. If there are any major sins, weaknesses, or failures in the pastorâs background, they must be clearly known by at least the search committee. In other words, there must not be any skeletons of any kind in any closets. Eventually they will come out; so they must be brought out early so everything may be examined, checked on if needed, and laid to rest.
If we are pastoral candidates, we must be painfully honest. We must be completely open about our weaknesses as well as our strengths.
It is also important for the candidate to interview the leadership of the church. He needs to know them personally, their leadership style, their expectations, both the churchâs strengths and weaknesses, and the leadersâ vision for the churchâs future. Becoming one of the pastors means he will be joining that leadership team, and he needs to know if it is a team with which he is in agreement.
It can only hurt the candidate and the church when a pastor is chosen and either one later realizes it was a mistake. This happens too often. Complete, up-front disclosure is the only way to minimize the likelihood of this tragedy occurring.
LEADING, NOT FOLLOWING
SHEEP NEED SHEPHERDS
A leader has been deïŹned as one who knows the way, goes the way,and shows the way.
âANONYMOUS
When I was growing up, for a period of time my family lived in a semirural area. For some unknown reason stray dogs would ïŹnd their way to our property and make it their home. Since some were female, we would often have a litter of puppies to deal with. One particular female stands out.
Her litters of puppies were always large, and dealing with a large number of growing dogs was not our idea of enjoying life. After several pregnancies we decided we had to do something. So early one morning we loaded her into our 1939 automobile, took her into town, through town, and all the way to the other side of town, leaving her near the city dog pound, approximately twelve miles away from our home. That day we shopped, visited, and returned home late in the evening. Much to our astonishment, that dog was standing on our front porch, happily wagging her tail, awaiting our return. She had found her way home all the way from the other side of town and could not wait to greet us. How she did that, Iâll never know. Our hearts melted, and we gave her a permanent home from that day forward. Dogs can be extremely intelligent (and persistent!).
But sheep do not respond that way. It has been said that you could lead a flock of sheep from your front yard to your backyard, and on their own they could not again find the front yard. They would need a shepherd to show them the way. Thatâs their nature (their limitation, actually). God knows the nature and characteristics of sheep. He made them. And that is the way He describes us as His people. Just as sheep need shepherds to lead them, Godâs spiritual sheep (the church) need spiritual shepherds to lead them into truth and righteousness. Ultimately Jesus is the great Shepherd, but He has chosen men to be His under-shepherds to pastor the flock.
The relationship between spiritual sheep and their shepherds illustrates many points, but here we will talk about only one areaâ spiritual leadership. In His design and providence for the church, God has established leadershipâplural leadership. The type of ministry and government in each local church will determine if and how this leadership will function.
For some bodies almost every issue is put to a vote by the congregation, and the elected leaders merely carry out the will of the sheep. In some cases even though the leaders may signiïŹcantly disagree, they are bound to carry out the decisions of the congregation. In my opinion, that is following, not leading. If that had occurred during Mosesâ day, the Israelites would still be in Egypt, under bondage, eating garlic, leeks, and onions.
We cannot sit back and wait for the sheep to lead. A few will, but by and large they are looking to us for direction, feeding, and leadership by our stepping out courageously in faith.
Real leadership involves working to be out ahead of the congregation in knowledge, wisdom, plans, courage, and faith. Joshua was a prime example of this, as was the apostle Paul; the greatest shepherd is our Lord Himself.
We cannot sit back and wait for the sheep to lead. A few will, but by and large they are looking to us for direction, feeding, and leadership by our stepping out courageously in faith. If there is a collection of leaders such as a group of elders (which is the biblical pattern), there is a built-in set of checks and balances to help ensure that the ïŹock is not being led in the wrong direction.
When a congregation has an unbiblical form of government that prevents the established leadership from leading, the pastors must patiently and systematically teach the body the proper form of church government. To try to lead without the members understanding their role to follow can be both frustrating and ineffective. To change an unbiblical situation may require a lengthy series of messages to establish Godâs order for His church. In doing so it must be made clear that elder rule and congregational involvement are not to be considered mutually exclusive.
Leadership involves taking bold steps forward, not simply reacting. It involves courage and the ability to take occasional spiritual lumps. It involves faith in a sovereign God and a trust that His Word works. It involves a sacriïŹcial love for the ïŹock, a love that will move us to lay down our lives for Godâs people.
As we lead we will feed, protect, encourage, warn, correct, and help heal those who are hurting. We will not sit back waiting for the ïŹock to be the vanguard. Shepherding means leading.
TRYING TO DO IT ALL
THE SHEEP ARE CALLED TO A MINISTRY
It was he who gave some . . . to be pastors and teachers, to prepare Godâs people for works of service.
âEPHESIANS 4:11-12
Some pastors are worked to death. They may teach a class, preach all the messages, lead all the services and meetings, handle the ofïŹce chores, prepare the Sunday bulletin, do most of the visitation, make the hospital calls, do all the funerals, weddings, and counseling, represent the church in all social activities, and coach the softball team. Before long they suffer from burnout.
That is not Godâs design for the church. The pastor in this situation usually has no one to blame but himself. He has failed in his duty. His responsibility is not to do it all himself but to âprepare Godâs people for works of service.â Sometimes it seems quicker to do all the chores himself than to have to talk people into taking on speciïŹc tasks or responsibilities, train them, and then follow up to make sure they have carried out the assignments. Weâve all had situations where members have promised to take care of certain matters, and we learn later that they did not follow through. With some pastors, that has created a desire to do it all to ensure that things are done properly. But ultimately this just means that less will be done because one person can be stretched only so far.
A pastor who tries to do it all himself . . . is not fulfilling the duties of his ministry.
It is our duty to enlist, educate, train, and demonstrate by example what church membership is all about. One person has commented that there should be no drones in Godâs church. We are told by Godâs Word that every person has been given one or more gifts and that those gifts must be exercised for the good of the body (Rom. 12:4-8). As leaders we, along with the board of elders, should be assessing the gifts of our members, matching them up with potential areas of service, assigning tasks to them, and encouraging them in their work. Members need to hear it emphasized that we were bought with a price, the blood of Christ, that we are not our own, but rather that our gifts and abilities have been given for the good of the body of Christ.
Some pastors may feel threatened by members who have been trained or educated to serve with excellence, perhaps even better in some respects than the pastor. But rather than feeling that way, the pastor must instead be grateful for those believersâ gifts and qualiïŹcations. If he has done a good job of teaching them and providing leadership, well-functioning members are evidence of a successful ministry, rather than an occasion for jealousy on his part.
