Dear Pastor,
I am writing to encourage you, to cheer for you, and to
challenge you to press on so that you may see that God has you right where you need to be, even when it doesn't feel like it. I am aware that you may not be a YouTube sensation, you don't have a book deal, you aren't a conference speaker, or have all the attributes for being a sought after leader. I have none of those either. However, that doesn't mean we aren't succeeding in where God has us.
A combination of the megachurch pastor and
our fallen nature has led us to believe that in order to be a
successful pastor you have to have all the right techniques, the right
leadership skills, a growing church and a track record of successful
ministries. By doing so, we end up defining success in worldly terms and not in
biblical terms. Who’s to say that the pastor of a church of 10 people is just
as successful or even more successful than the pastor who has a church of 10
000 people. Who’s to say the pastor that was fired from his church after a year
was just as successful as the previous pastor of 25 years. Who’s to say that
the pastor who has witnessed only 10 conversions in his ministry is just as
successful as the pastor who has witnessed 100’s of conversions.
If you were to look at my own ministry track record, some pastors or maybe even my own denomination might say that I
haven’t been successful. In my 11 years of pastoral ministry, I have pastored at 3 different ministries. I spent 3
years as a youth pastor, 2 years as a pastor at a Christian rehab, and 9 months as a lead
pastor of a church. The duration of the first two ministry stints are common, but it is the duration of the last ministry that would pose a problem for some people because it would suggest I did something wrong.
My two previous ministries may have been more successful, but the truth is I lacked certain leadership skills, I experienced conflict, I had personal issues that I needed to address, I had to repent of pride, and I had to take ownership of some poor decisions that I made and some bad behaviour. Regardless, I am thankful for those ministries because of the work God accomplished both in others and in myself. There is no question that God was using those ministries to prepare me for what I would experience at my most recent ministry.
It is sad that it only lasted 9 months, but it was a very unique situation that had a lot of contributing factors for it ending prematurely. The church had a history of ongoing conflict, they were still grieving from the death of their previous pastor and shouldn't have called me so quick, there was a lack of leadership from there deacons, there were unresolved issues from the previous pastor's ministry, and they had a church bully. Once I got there, I inherited those unresolved problems, I encountered conflict with my deacons, I experienced a severe blood clot, we had our third child, and I had to seek medical help for my anxiety. Needless to say, there was a lot that happened in such a short time that made it clear that this ministry wasn't going to last, but I can honestly say that I did the best I could with where I was at. God used that time to build my trust in him, to help me grow in perseverance while undergoing trials, to address both my emotional and mental health, and to build my marriage.
To some, I described a very unsuccessful
ministry. In fact, this kind of story would show up in leadership magazines in order to demonstrate what you aren't supposed to do. I was kindly told by a few pastors in our denomination that they believed someone else could have done a better job than me. That very well may have been true, but they may have only lasted
a little longer because of the dynamics that were at play. It doesn't matter who the pastor is of that church because no person will be able to meet that churches deepest need, except for God. They need to turn to God and surrender to his will and purpose in order to find healing and become a faithful witness in their community.
Pastor, we need to break away from the worldly way of defining pastoral success because it does not line up with the Bible and how God
defines success. Some may view you right now as a failure, but God might see you as a victor. I believe we are coming to the end of the church growth movement and the
mega-pastor mindset because they have proven to be flawed and inadequate in dealing with the complex issues within our churches and culture. Many of the pastors who pioneered the church growth movement are being caught up in controversy, with some of them
having to resign because of moral failure. We need God's word to be the primary model for pastoral ministry so it can redefine for us what it means to be successful.
This will be a hard process for us because we have been trained for so long to see pastoral success as a technique to be mastered and a set of principles that are to be applied to our ministry. If we were to take many of the key people of scripture and critique them through the current model of success, many of them would be seen as unsuccessful. Moses failed to make it to the Promised Land. Jeremiah was unable to have the Kings listen to him and prevent Judah from being sent into Exile. Isaiah wasn't successful in having anyone listen to his preaching. Stephen was pelted to death by rocks after his first sermon. Even Jesus was only able to keep his ministry going for 3 years. We would conclude that they lacked certain leadership skills, they were emotionally immature, they had personality flaws, they lacked a strong stage presence, and they were confrontational. Yet God saw them as successful because they were faithful to God and were obedient to His word. They stayed on the path that was marked out for them.
In Hebrews 11, known as the faith chapter, the writer felt compelled to reflect on the ministry of the various servants of God throughout Biblical History. He writes in verses 32-39:
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to
tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched
the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of
weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women
received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to
accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even
chains and imprisonment. 37 They were
stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about
in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of
whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in
dens and caves of the earth. These were all commended for their faith.
Do you see what the writer did here? He compiled a summary of people, that included both "successful" and "unsuccessful" stories because Biblical success is marked by faithfulness and obedience, not accomplishments. In God's eyes, those who were stoned, sawn in two, killed with the sword, devoured by lions, and shunned, were just as successful as those who were able to conquer kingdoms and shout the mouth of lions. However, our tendency is to highlight only the "successful" because they make for better books and conferences. Many of us would pay to find out how to shut the mouths of lions than to learn how to be eaten by one. If Moses did a conference on "How To Part the Red Sea" or if Jesus wrote a book on "5 ways to feed 5000 people", we would be quick to sign up or buy, wouldn't we? However, success isn't something that is guaranteed. What if you follow all the steps and you still can't part the Red Sea, but instead get swallowed up by it? What if you implemented the 5 steps to feeding 5000 people, but were only able to feed 200? Would you be considered successful? In the end, we put the blame on the person instead of realizing that what God has marked out for some, may be different for what he has marked out for others.
There is nothing wrong with knowing technique or learning certain skills, but they do not guarantee success. Technique has its place, but God is more concerned about your faithfulness and allegiance to him then your reputation. 1 Samuel 15:22 says, “does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the
fat of rams.”
So where does this leave you and me? The reality is some of us will see some extraordinary things take place in our ministry. We will see signs and wonders, healing, church growth, repentance, and be invited to speak at conferences. While others of us will experience church decline, perform more funerals than Baptisms, experience conflict, accusations, have failing health, battle with depression, have a mediocre ministry, and retire without being known in the wider Christian community. This doesn't mean God loves some of us more than others, but it does mean that wherever we find ourselves at, we need to continue to pursue our relationship with God. We need to grow in trust of him. We need to pursue joy and obedience that is rooted in him so that we can stay faithful to the path that he has marked out for us.
With love from Pastor Josh Dorey
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