Hell has no fury like a woman spurned and heaven has no fury like a new pastor bursting to start his ministry.
So often, a pastor new to his church makes a hash of things under the pretext of zeal and gifting. This church, he decides, needs radical and urgent work, so he’s the man to do it, and do it now. But skill gives way to a bulldozer approach.
Here’s an eight-step plan to ministering with a wrecking-ball:
1. He has a plan, and woe betide the person who quibbles with it. Nothing’s wrong with bold vision and clear leadership. But when it’s one man’s plan, laid upon a church without consultation or realism, and pushed through come what may, then there will be sad times ahead.
2. He wants to make his mark. There is a fleshly spirit in many new pastors which wants to ignore the past and a faithful predecessor’s ministry. As far as our new man is concerned, it’s now his turn, and the church’s Year One. ‘I am the one and only’ is the song that comes to mind.
3. He’s in a hurry. I overheard a pastor at a conference telling a friend how he was going to double his congregation in a year. One year. He’s since left that church. Not wise. Let him fight defeatism, and take up arms against those who are at ease in Zion; but let him be resolved to fight the good fight of faith over many years, not flash his sword around and then run off when people don’t change by next Tuesday.
4. He welcomes the grumblers from the other local churches with open arms. How flattering it is when the once-stalwarts of the church down the road tell you that you’re the hope of the area, and are eager to join you and learn from your amazing ministry. It’s a foolish pastor who gets puffed up, and a bigger fool who doesn’t sit them down for a good talk, and inform their pastor, too. The new pastor is at his godliest when he’s gently encouraging people back to the faithful ministry which has built them up. Don’t steal them.
5. He puts little value on local church relationships. He doesn’t, because he’s sure he’s got all the gifts, and he’s got his sights on growing that flourishing church which reflects them. He doesn’t need the guy down the road. Any pastor knows that relationships are complicated – why add to his problems? Oh, silly man! Get to know your fellow-believers and pastors.
6. He wants to set up ‘gospel initiatives’. That might be good. It might be a code for ‘he wants to control things in the neighbourhood’. Worse still, it might mean that he’s not going to bother finding out about or joining in on what’s already existing. Wanting always to be ‘the key man’ often exposes pride more than gospel zeal.
7. He focuses on the young and talented at the expense of the ageing and exhausted. Some pastors’ diaries seem to betray a view that the young are fun, the old are a bore. The new man might hide this prejudice behind the ‘it’s all about training’ mantra. His diary must show that he actually loves the sick and sad and is generous in his time with them, too.
8. He’s too busy and talented (and disorganised) to give serious time to prayer. No-one asks the pastor if he’s praying. And since prayer is hard, and time-consuming (and often looks like it doesn’t work), then why should he invest in prayer, with so much else to do? A prayerless ministry is a house of cards: it all looks very impressive for a season, but it will definitely fall over before too long.
There you go, eight steps to sow the seeds of failure in your new ministry.
So, dear church members: if your pastor is making a wreck of his ministry, and your church, tell him. Mercifully, pastors are often quite quick to take responsibility. Show your pastor the damage he’s causing, and pray for the grace of repentance. And don’t stand at a distance just because he’s new.
