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What is the Essence of Faithful Pastoral Ministry?
The simplicity may surprise you.
Avoiding Unbiblical Expectations
In a previous post, we discovered that pastors do not have to fit into a predesigned pastoral mold. In other words, we do not have to wear Saul’s armor.
Every pastor brings a unique “gift mix” to his ministry, including a distinctive personality wiring that may range from introverted to extroverted, from big picture to detailist, from thinking to feeling-oriented, and from highly scheduled and organized to spontaneous and flexible.
Therefore, we want to avoid creating unbiblical expectations for what pastors should do.
Thom Rainer, former President of Lifeway Christian Resources has also pastored several churches. He once surveyed his church leadership coming to a shocking realization that the congregation’s expectations for his average workweek included a minimum of 114 hours spread over a multitude of church and community activities.
Whoa.
What was most distressing to him was the realization that, while he really loved everyone, he would never be able to please everyone. Unless he refused to sleep, he would be a pastoral disappointment, never able to achieve the approval ratings he wanted.
