It was in Pastor Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Church that I first came to believe that pastors really have two big jobs: to lead and to feed.
Pastors lead the congregation forward on mission with a clear sense of vision, helping people see where God may be calling us next. This is more than executive-level organizational strategy.
And pastors feed the congregation spiritually through preaching and teaching, through the sacraments, through worship, and through the steady work of helping people grow in grace.
What about pastoral care? Again, hearkening back to Rick’s wisdom, “every member is a minister.” Pastoral care is less about pastors doing all the care and more about pastors and other leaders organizing the church to care for the needs of the body and its community.
When I was first expressing to others a calling to preaching ministry, one local pastor gave me an important piece of advice: throw away your junk mail.
Back then, we’d get a dozen postcards and envelopes a week with fresh ideas, church products, and services designed to help a local church grow its reach through direct mail and other means.
We’ve come a long way since then. Now, most marketing messages and shiny-object notifications come via email and social media.
Pastors’ inboxes fill up with invitations to chase something new. A new app. A new tool. A new strategy. A new conference. A new ministry model. A new campaign that promises growth, momentum, efficiency, or some measurable payoff.
Some of those tools are helpful and worth consideration. But those good ideas can become little time-bandits, stealing away from a pastor’s time with God, time to think, and time leading people.
This is especially hard for pastors who are entrepreneurial by nature, and I know a lot of those personally. Pastors see a need and start imagining how to meet it, but then those new tasks and ventures start to choke the spiritual vitality out of us. The maintenance work needed after the new car smell has worn off of a new app, process, or program becomes a burden.
There’s a gap between what the church can do and what the church is actually prepared, ready, and equipped to do.
One of the biggest mistakes I see, especially among planting pastors, is the tendency to try to start everything that feels right to be doing. And it gets exhausting.
When pastors feel the nudge to begin something new, the first move should not be to announce it, schedule it, or buy it.
The first move should be to clarify the vision and purpose. What are we trying to accomplish? Whom does this serve? How does it fit the mission of the church? Does it help us lead people forward or feed them more faithfully?
If the purpose is fuzzy, the project probably needs more prayer and thought before it needs a launch date.
And the next move is to make a plan. What will actually need to happen? What are the steps? Who is responsible? What will success look like? What existing commitment might need to be paused or stopped to make room?
A good idea without a plan usually becomes another half-finished obligation carried by already-tired people.
And then we need to tally up our available resources. Do we have the time? The people, both leading and volunteering? Do we have the money or budget to support it, including the hidden costs of doing it well? If any of those three are missing, the answer may not be “no.” But it may need to be “not yet.”
“Not yet” is not a failure of faith. It can be an act of faithful stewardship. Starting without the needed resources almost always creates debt somewhere. It may be emotional, relational, volunteer, financial, or leadership debt, but someone will pay for the gap between the dream and the resources required to sustain it.
The healthier path is to empower people to spearhead projects as they carry out the vision. The pastor does not need to personally own every worthwhile initiative. The pastor’s work is to clarify, equip, align, teach, and release people to lead, even at the risk of failure.
Ministry gets carried out in a healthy church when the body is equipped to carry the work together, not when one leader, even the pastor, becomes a bottleneck.
Most pastors don’t lack ideas. They’re just busy trying to manage all the ideas they’ve already had, so there isn’t enough time left to lead and feed the congregation.
When a new idea or opportunity comes along, seek a clear vision, form a strong plan, invest in the people who can carry it forward, and raise the money and resources for it. When the team is ready, GO!
And if those pieces aren’t in place, just say, “Not yet.”
Photo by Matt Botsford on Unsplash.