Monty HaleThe issues that face pastors today are enormous. I personally think being a pastor is one of the toughest jobs in North America. Many men have gone into the ministry with the goal to win the world for Christ, only to crash and burn within a few years. I deal with them every week. Many come to my office and pour out their lives all over my desk and office chairs.
The need for focus and solid priorities are at an all-time high. Pastors need to identify what is most important to them and spend their lives focused on these things. Without such focus, the attempts to share the gospel with the world will be delayed, or potentially thwarted. Let me share some issues that will hopefully get you thinking. Incidentally, since I am also a preacher, they all start with the same letter!
Trust
Pastors must learn how to trust. They must create an atmosphere where people are willing to trust openly, and where they can do the same. Without trust, the church will implode – as will the life of the pastor. Trust begins in the heart of the person serving as he trusts the Lord.
He must then transfer that trust to the people he serves. This is difficult if the pastor himself has trust issues in his life (family of origin), or in his immediate family. The Holy Spirit has to indwell the heart if the pastor is really going to make it in the field. We are in the trust business, and the place of ministry that has little or none will not be what God intends it to be.
Territory
Many pastors are threatened when they are approached to begin a new ministry in their own backyard. That’s why many have little trouble leading people to serve on the other side of the world, but cannot allow others to come into their ministry area.
Early in my first pastorate, I was approached to help start a new church just a few miles from the place where I was serving. We were struggling, and my territorial “hackles” came up immediately. I have since learned there are more people who need help than my one church could ever reach. To understand a pastor is to understand that most are not open to a ministry, or church, being planted in their area unless their own church can benefit from it.
Most of this territorial threat comes from the increased pressure placed on pastors to grow their church. While it may be unfounded, it is still deeply ingrained. A kingdom perspective is the answer, but territory is still a problem.
Tradition
This area is very important. We war against one another over contemporary or traditional forms of music; this is a mere symptom. The real problem that faces pastors is the deeply ingrained desire on the part of most church members to keep everything the same. Change management is a real issue in the hyper-changing world of the 21st century.
There is no doubt that the church needs to constantly change its method and leverage the technological resources at her disposal, but how that takes place is a slippery slope. Slow and easy is my advice. With trust, and respect for territory and tradition, change can and will happen. But you cannot command it.
Tension
Never before has so much conflict been present in the church. For the first time in church history, five or six generations are present, and they all have a different worldview. Increasingly, the problem comes down to the issue of who’s going to be in charge.
The churches with the most conflict are those who have not clearly defined who is the head of the church (Jesus), and how the church is to be organized and run. We need to once again agree to disagree in love, and at the same time not be disagreeable. Love must conquer in this area. If you love someone, you overlook their faults and see them through the eyes of love. “More love in our churches Lord, more love in our churches.” That should be our prayer.
Transformation
Someone said, “We don’t have much trouble with being converted – it’s transformation that we struggle with.” Conversion is a one-time experience; transformation is ongoing. The biggest issue that faces our pastors and churches is the issue of making disciples. That takes transformation and a lot of time. Pastors must reprioritize in this area, but they can’t if they are constantly putting out fires and are covered up with the minutia that is the North American church of today.
These are just a few of the issues facing pastors today. Nevertheless, I believe they are the major ones. So what do we do about it? Focus! We must ask what things must I say no to in order to take care of these. That’s what leadership is all about.
– Hale is director of association and pastoral ministries for the South Carolina Baptist Convention. This article first appeared in the Winter 2010-2011 issue of FOCUS, the magazine of the SCBC.