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9 Things that Won’t Make Us Better Pastors – And 4 That Will
I want to be a better pastor.
I’m always doing everything I can to put more tools in my pastoral tool-belt. I read the best books I can find, I seek out wise counsel, I take classes and go to seminars. All of these practices have helped me become a better pastor – some more than others.
But, along the way, I’ve discovered that there are a handful of things many of us strive for that will do nothing to make us better pastors.
I’ve also discovered a list of things that we all know, but sometimes overlook, that will always make us better pastors – and people.
The first list is not exhaustive – it never will be. But I think the second one is. I offer both of them in simple lists because each one stands on its own.
The 6 Types Of Small Church Pastors (Descriptions & Cautions)
There are so many types of Small Churches in the world! The variety is staggering.
Correspondingly, there are a great variety of Small Church pastors, too. But as I talk with more of them (us), I’ve found that there are some patterns that keep repeating themselves.
Specifically, I’ve discovered that Small Church pastors tend to fall into one of six categories. Or some hybrid of two or more.
If you’re a Small Church pastor who doesn’t fit into any of these categories, that’s fine. Maybe there’s a seventh or eighth one I haven’t run across yet.
But I offer these six to you for three reasons:
First, to let you know you’re not alone. There are others who feel what you feel and know the challenges you struggle with.
Second, as a way of supporting each other. Once we know there are others like us, we can reach out and help each other.
Third, each type comes with areas of caution to be aware of. I offer those cautions today as well.
So here they are. You might be a Small Church pastor…
Church Is Not Efficient – And 5 Other Other Messy Truths
As a pastor, I was taught never to wrestle with difficult truths in front of the congregation. Give them simple three-point, alliterated answers to life’s problems.
That may have been the right thing to do years ago. Perhaps we really did live in a simpler era when answers were easier, God made sense and the church always did things well.
But not any more.
Today, people don’t trust answers that come too easily. At least not when we’re dealing with the big questions of life.
That has led some people to give up on the idea that we can find truth at all.
Not me. More than ever, I’m committed to the reality that there is a God. He does exist. That Jesus is the only way to heaven. And that the bible really does mean what it says.
But.
The details are messier than we’d often like to admit. So here are a few of those messy details that I’ve come to be OK with in recent years. I’m even OK with acknowledging them to my church, from the pulpit.
Just don’t stop until you get to the end of the story. The road may not be as smooth as it once was, but the destination is more than worth the trip.
Want to Build a Great Church? Stop Burying the Lead
No church can do everything. Not if we want to do any of it well.
But every church can do something really well. Maybe a couple things. That’s what makes a church great. Knowing what we’re called to do and doing it really well.
Especially in a Small Church.
But too many churches waste unnecessary time and energy trying to copy other great churches instead of doing what they’re called to do. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it’s no way to build a great church.
So how do we build a great church? Find out what you’re called to do, then do it really well.
And make sure that the thing you do well isn’t buried beneath things you don’t do as well. In publishing, that’s called burying the lead.
Churches bury the lead all the time. We hide our best stuff beneath layers of things we don’t do well at all.
Why? Because we have a template in our head of what a church is supposed to look and act like. But, more often than not, that template is based on churches we look up to, or churches we were raised in, instead of what God is calling our church to be and do.
We all need to figure out what our church is supposed to be about, then feature what we do well.
5 Cautions About Emphasizing Leadership Over Followership
Leadership matters. A lot.
But sometimes I wonder if we’ve elevated the value of church leadership over a much more important biblical trait – followership. Also known as discipleship.
Before any of us are leaders, we’re all supposed to be followers. Followers of Jesus. Together.
At best, any leadership authority we have in the church is reflected and borrowed leadership from Jesus himself.
Paul encouraged the Corinthians to “follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” The very strong implication of that statement is that if the leader stops following Jesus, we should stop following that leader.
That’s why church leaders need to be very careful to be followers of Jesus first. In fact, our followership should be more on display than our leadership.
Another phrase for this is “servant leadership.” And the order of those words matters. Being a servant always comes first.
When we forget this, bad things can happen. I don’t need to go over the list of Christian leaders that have fallen. But it’s hard to think of any Christian servants that have fallen.
If you’re in church leadership – a high, noble and important calling – here are five cautions we should all be aware of:
The Immeasurable Influence of Encouraging Leadership
As a leader, I’ve always believed that one of my primary roles is it try to say “yes” to people’s ideas. This week, I heard a story that reinforces that principle in a very powerful way. For all of us.
As a boy, Mitchell loved to draw. When he started first grade, he walked up to his teacher and told her “If you’d like any drawings or artwork done for the classroom, I’m your man.”
Upon hearing this bold proclamation, the teacher went to her desk, pulled out a box of multi-colored chalk, removed one piece and drew a square in the corner of the chalkboard at just the right height for little Mitchell.
She then leaned down to him, met him face-to-face and told him. “I would like that. Whenever you’ve finished with all the assigned work, you may draw whatever you would like in that square.”
Mitchell was in heaven. He worked hard at his studies every day, then drew in that square. Getting better every day, he completed hundreds of pieces of chalk art by the end of the school year.
The next year, he went into second grade. Feeling confident, he walked up to his new teacher and told her “If you’d like any drawings or artwork done for the classroom, I’m your man.”
The teacher looked down at Mitchell, placed her hands on her hips and scowled, “Get back to your seat!”
Thankfully, that second grade teacher didn’t stop Mitchell from drawing. The inspiration he had received from his first grade teacher had buoyed his spirits enough to overcome the negativity from his second grade teacher.
Mitchell Tolle went on to become a great American artist.
How to Drop Your Church’s Secret Menu and Make Your Guests Feel Welcome
Every church has a secret menu. Things we say and do that our regulars take for granted, but can be confusing and frustrating to newcomers. Here’s an example of how frustrating a secret menu can be.
I was at a Starbucks this week, when the man in front of me ordered short latte. The employee responded “a tall latte”. Then they went back-and-forth with these exact words.
Short
Tall
Short
Tall
Short
Tall
I leaned in and told the man “tall is the shortest one they have”. He thanked me. The Starbucks employee looked perturbed.
I posted this on Facebook and got quick responses from friends about how funny and frustrating that sounded. Then Jonny Craig, from 200Churches.com commented, “As a former Starbucks employee, I am appalled! Short is, in fact, a size option! (it’s 8 oz).”
It seems Starbucks has a secret menu. So secret that this employee didn’t even know about it. In addition to the short option (as seen in the above photo, supplied by Facebook friend Lou Covey), they also have a super-size called a Trenta.
How to Stop People from Playing On Their Phones In Church
“Pastor, does it bug you when you see people on their cell phones when you’re preaching? Does it make you wonder if they’re on Facebook or playing a game?”
A church member asked me that question last week.
My answer? No. It doesn’t bother me at all. Honestly.
As I told her, people on phones in church could be using their bible app, taking notes or tweeting my last point to their friends (I know that happens, I’ve seen the time-stamp).
Sure, some of them are playing Words With Friends when they get bored. Years ago, people doodled on the back of the bulletins when they got bored. They still do. Different technology, same problem.
Cell phones in church don’t bother me because I’ve discovered an ancient secret that keeps people from getting bored in church.
Do church better!
The answer to people being bored in church isn’t to get upset at them for being bored, it’s to give them a less boring church experience.
Are You a Slave to What’s Popular? Or to What Used to Be Popular?
“People don’t want good teaching anymore, they just want what’s popular!”
That statement was made on a Facebook page for ministers recently. The conversation was about using the King James bible in church. Looking for a fight? That’ll get you one.
The pastor was insisting that the decline in the use of the KJV was a sign that the church has grown weak and shallow.
As soon as I read that line, my gut reaction (which I did not write in the comments) was “But the KJV was the most popular bible on earth for centuries! What does its popularity have to do with its value?”
Things become popular because people like them. Things used to be popular because people used to like them.
Sometimes when we complain about the way church is done today, we’re just longing for things that were popular when we were young. But, instead of admitting that, we try to convince ourselves and others that we’re sticking with the old ways because they’re better. And if the old ways were better, the new ways must be wrong.
So we blame “the church these days” for following the latest trends and putting popularity ahead of truth.
Certainly there are churches that bend their theology to suit the latest fad. But more often than not, churches are just adapting their methods to speak the Gospel in today’s language.
So what’s worse? Being a slave to what’s popular? Or being a slave to what used to be popular?
I say we stop doing both. And do what works.
