What a Long Strange Trip It's Been

On this day 23 years ago, I boarded a city bus in Denver, CO. That bus took me to a government building where I got on a van with a handful of other young men. That van took us to the airport, where we boarded a plane bound for San Antonio, TX. Upon arriving in San Antonio, we boarded another bus. Then shortly after we passed under the sign, “Welcome to Lackland Air Force Base,” the fun began.

Don’t get me wrong, that first night was anything but fun. Neither were the second or third nights. But that first night started me on an incredible journey that I could have never imagined. That journey covered 18 states, 12 countries, and 10 time zones in 20 years. The Lord used that journey to mold and break and shape me. Sometimes I drifted from Him. Sometimes I flat-out ran from Him. But He fulfilled His promise that He would never leave me or forsake me—even in the depths of a Korean ditch or the backside of a Saudi Arabian desert.

Some people have asked me if I miss the Air Force. In some ways I do. Had the Lord not called me into the pastorate, I would have stayed until they took my boots away. But the fact is that the Lord did call—and when we respond to His call, He changes our desires. I thank God that He allowed me to serve this great nation in the way that I did for 20 years. It was a blessing and an honor and a privilege. But even more than that, I thank Him that He has called me out of that into a new kind of service. And I am especially thankful that this time, He’s doing it without any yelling or forced marches!

1 Corinthians 1:9

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Equiping the Saints

Another headline. Another pastor is hauled away from his pulpit in shame and disgrace. Another church is devastated. Another ministry is destroyed. Why does it happen so often? Stand to Reason blog posted a very good article that addresses some of the core issues involved.

This is sad. Another pastor taken down by sin. Now, I think these cases are the exception. Our churches are largely filled with good men and women who lead. But
the fall of pastors is still too prevalent and it has me thinking about the "Senior Pastor" model. The liabilities are many:

#1 - The senior pastor is looked to primarily for leadership that reflects charisma rather than character. When there’s a single primary pastor, whether consciously or
unconsciously, he alone is relied upon to be the “face” of the ministry. And in our culture, it’s charisma not character that makes a lasting first impression on people. Therefore, many churches depend upon his celebrity status to represent their ministry. New attenders, enamored by a personality, choose to join a church primarily on that basis. Indeed, in many cases a senior pastor’s character is an afterthought.

#2 - The body of believers is much more susceptible to the development of an unhealthy co-dependence on the senior pastor. The “Senior Pastor” model, when combined with the widespread dysfunction found in American culture, encourages a co-dependent relationship between pastor and parishoner that is detrimental to the spiritual health of the body. Thus, the typical believer experiences an unhealthy need to connect with the senior pastor on some level before he or she can connect to that particular church.

# 3 - The personality of the senior pastor begins to dominate church life. When there is so much dependence placed upon a single leader, his strengths and weaknesses tend to shape the body life of the church. His strengths become the emphasis of the church, no matter how unbalanced. In addition, his weaknesses, unable to be counter-balanced by other leaders, are likely to become the weaknesses of the church.

#4 - The senior pastor model encourages the body of believers to become spectators. Since the senior pastor is the “professional” minister who is paid to do the work of the
ministry, the body is enabled to sit back and watch him and his staff do their job. Thus, the large majority of significant ministry is carried out by the paid staff of a particular church.

#5 - When a senior pastor falls, the damage is immense. When there is so much dependence upon a single leader, the effects of his sin and shortcomings are multiplied exponentially. In contrast to the elevated status of the senior pastor, the lesser roles of associate pastor or support staff do little to mitigate against the damage to the body.

Could it be these liabilities are the result of an unbiblical model of church leadership? A biblical model should provide us with a structure that mitigates against these weaknesses. I'm sure that church in Compton is going to be reeling for some time.

Pray for your pastor. Learn from him. Encourage him. Hold him accountable for his walk with Christ. But always remember that his primary responsibility is to equip the saints of God in such a way that they will be able to effectively perform the works of ministry. The pastor is not THE minister. He is A minister among a body of ministers.

Ephesians 4:11-12
1 Timothy 4:16

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Crash Prevention—Time

Over the past several Mondays, Dr. Don Deel, the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, has shown us some disturbing statistics concerning ministerial failure and burnout. Those have been followed with a series of his suggestions as to how to prevent that burnout. This is the final, most important step to preventing ministerial burnout.

Spend time in the presence of the Lord. I have noticed very clearly in my own life that the more time I spend in the presence of the Lord, the easier it is to deal with the difficult people in my life. When we pray and worship, we receive from God. We are strengthened, we are lifted up, we are emotionally healed, and the burden is taken off of our shoulders. More than anyone, pastors and ministers need prayer time; they need worship time; they need time alone with the Lord. Not time when they are praying for their congregations, but time when they are just being alone with Jesus . . . time to pray for themselves, their families, and to receive strength from the Holy Spirit. This means, rising early in the morning to come into His presence.

Dr. Deel concluded with this message to pastors:

Remember the wisdom of the apostles in Acts chapter six. They found they weren’t able to spend the time they needed in prayer and Bible study, because of the demands of the ministry. So, they asked the people to select deacons from amongst themselves; in order to take some of the burden of the ministry off of the apostles.

Why did they do this? So they could spend their time in prayer and study of the Word. If your leadership isn’t taking that load, then they aren’t leadership. You need to train them in their duties, and allow them the blessing of truly serving the people of God.

Be encouraged, brother. You don’t have to become a negative statistic. God wants you where you are, not so that your church can be a millstone around your neck, but so that you can be a blessing to them. There is victory for you at the foot of the cross. Take your burden there, and allow the Lord to lift you up.

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Crash Prevention—Study

Dr. Don Deel, the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, has given some helpful advice on how to prevent the kind of ministerial crash described in these earlier posts. We have seen his first and second suggestions. Today is the third:

Fall in love with studying the Word of God. If the only time you spend studying the Bible is to prepare a message, you have put a muzzle on yourself as you feed your sheep. They’re receiving, but you aren’t. You need to be fed as well. Take time to study for yourself. If messages come out of that, that’s fine. But the point is to receive. Take time to go to pastor’s fellowships, where you can receive ministry and encouragement. Take time to be with your wife and children.

Next Monday we will look at the final prevention step.

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Crash Prevention—Relationship

Dr. Don Deel, the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, has given some helpful advice on how to prevent the kind of ministerial crash described in these earlier posts. Last Monday we saw his first suggestion. Today is the second:

Get into relationship with a mentor. We all need help from time to time, maybe even more so when we’re in the ministry. You need someone who has the wisdom, experience, and hopefully the anointing to minister to you as a pastor. God has provided for this need within His ministry to you. It is part of the “calling” of an apostle. Jesus never built an organization, nor did Paul. They built relationships with other ministers whom they could pour their lives into. All of Paul’s letters are an example of this. He wrote to the elders and ministers over the churches he had established, giving them help and instruction. Find someone with the same anointing, and enter into a mentoring relationship with them. Pray with and for your wife and children.

Next Monday we will look at the third prevention step.

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Crash Prevention—Covenant

While researching his doctoral thesis, Dr. Don Deel, the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, uncovered some disturbing statistics about pastors and the ministry. I reported those statistics in a series of posts.

Now for the good news. Dr. Deel has given ways to prevent the kind of crash described by those alarming statistics. He writes, “There are certain steps that we, as ministers, can and must do to help ourselves not only to survive in the ministry, but to excel in the ministry.” One of those steps is:

Enter into a covenant with another pastor. This should be a mutual, trusting relationship where you can openly talk and pray for each other, without fear that the other pastors will gossip about you. As ministers, many times our lives are very lonely. Finding others whom you can build relationships, will help alleviate the stress and loneliness of being a pastor.

Next Monday we will look at another prevention step.

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