Misperceptions About Young Pastors

I’m in Cincinnati right now with my family as Nikki and I attend a conference and Caleb plays with his new friend Brittney.  Coming to these things reminds me of some of the misperceptions people have about young pastors.  I made some comments on Twitter today referring to some of these, and I thought I’d give you a small glimpse inside of what it’s like to be a young pastor.

I’m not always quick to tell people I meet what I do because they always give me that perplexed or shocked look.  And then there’s some people who will be turned away immediately if they find out you’re a pastor.  You’ve just lost “cool” points with them.  In fact, telling someone I’m a pastor right away can sometimes hurt my chances of being able to share the gospel with them.  They’ve got to see me as a “real” person first.

Watch the SBC Pastor’s Conference Live

You can see the schedule of who is speaking today for the pastor’s conference and watch it via live streaming by clicking here.

I’m heading out for the day now and am praying for refreshment from God’s Word!

Effective Churches & Pastors' Time

Thom Rainer posted a very interesting article on his website about effective churches and the way that pastors spend their time.  What jumps out to me initially is that effective churches seem to correlate to pastors spending their time effectively.  I wanted to make some notes here to communicate my thoughts on this research.

101 pastors were surveyed for this report.  An effective church was defined in this study as a church being in the top 5% in conversion growth in America.  The comparison was made to churches not experiencing conversion growth, or growth based on people surrendering their lives to Jesus.

You can read the whole article (linked above), but here’s a bulleted list of a couple of the results listed in that article, followed by my thoughts in italics:

• Pastors of effective churches spend twenty-two hours in sermon preparation each week versus four hours for pastors of comparison churches.  This is an interesting point because preaching is considered by many the most important task of a pastor.

The Most Important Words for Church Leaders

I was struck by Paul’s words in Acts 20 to the elders of the church in Ephesus that I thought it could be helpful to write about here.  In verse 25, it is revealed that Paul knew he would never see them again. In light of this, he calls them together to tell them what he felt would be the most important thing he could tell them.

They were already saved by the grace of Jesus and their faith in Him.  Paul didn’t need to share the gospel of Jesus with them, which had always been his priority.  But now, he shared the most important thing with them-  commands on leading the church well.

Next to the gospel itself, Paul regards the church as being extremely important.

I’ve been thinking through the application of these words in my life and ministry, and I hope they would encourage the same reflection for others.  This is my summary of what Paul tells them:

1. Pay attention to yourself and to the flock (those under our leadership) (v. 28).  We are to take care of ourselves and God’s people.  It’s amazing how many pastors neglect themselves spiritually and physically when putting the needs of others above their own.  But in caring for others, it was never intended that we not care for ourselves.  Paul makes it clear here.  We must balance our time to make sure we are staying in shape spiritually and physically (and perhaps other ways too).
2. It’s Jesus church- not yours (v.28).  Paul calls it the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.  We didn’t die to build the church.  Jesus did.  Our leadership of a church is completely God’s gift and calling- not something we deserve.  This is why it’s such a high calling and responsibility.  The temptation today is to build our own kingdoms, forgetting the reason why we do what we do at all.  It’s completely sinful to see good things happen through the church and take credit for it ourselves when the church and all of its work was obtained by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Don’t steal God’s glory.
3. Beware of wolves and those from within who twist truth to develop followers (v.29-31).  Any shepherd would eagerly rid his flock of wolves and protect them from wolves in the first place.  And any pastor who regards Jesus’ church as important should do the same.  But this is another area where leadership is lacking.  People come in from the outside and somehow end up controlling the church.  Or someone rises up from within the church for nothing more than selfish motivation.  Either way, it slows down the work of God and causes division in the church.  Paul says to admonish people with tears, not just sit back and cry, hoping the wolves will go away.
4. God and His grace will build you up (v.32).  There is no better “growth plan” than to proclaim God’s grace, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).
5. Don’t covet, and bless others with what you do have (v.33-35).  Ministry certainly isn’t a wealthy field, and when we try to make it one, our focus is not on the work of God through His church.  Paul commands us to help the weak, reminding us that it is more blessed to give than to receive.  Though we might not have much money or accumulate worldly treasures, we are not exempt from this command.  Let’s constantly be looking for ways we can help the weak.

New Years- and What Do Pastors Do Anyway?

This is one of the graphs from LifeWay Research's findings (click on it to view larger).

On December 28, 2009, our friends at LifeWay Research released their latest findings on pastors’ time. It is an interesting article to read, some alarming and some of it just sad.

I’ve been asked the question many pastors receive- what do you do anyway?

And I’ve been accused as many pastors are of only working one day a week (maybe 2 if there’s a mid-week service!).  And having a day off during the M-F work week is ridiculous to some who don’t understand what pastors do.

I’m not writing this post to tell you what I do every second of every day.  And honestly, that would be difficult because pastors are not 9 to 5 guys who have the same schedule every day.  There are days where things come up that change whatever you had planned.

But I was thinking about this in light of New Years.

Do I make New Years resolutions?