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Misperceptions of Success in the Small Church: #4: Successful Pastors Are Growth Agents

More misperceptions about success in the small church from Leading the Small Church.

Misperception 4: Successful Pastors Are Growth Agents
During the latter decades of the twentieth century, it was popular to say that successful pastors were those who were serving growing churches. Pastors were seen as responsible for the numerical growth of the church and for effectively leading the church through various stages of church growth. Pastors who effectively led their churches through substantial growth were lauded as successful leaders to be emulated and followed.

The reality, however, both biblically and practically, is that effective leadership does not always translate into numerical growth. Some of the greatest leaders in the Old Testament did not experience the joy of seeing substantial or even minimal growth. Elijah despaired in ministry because no one responded favorably to his victory on Mount Carmel. Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah were called to serve people who refused to listen to their prophecies. Even Jesus, at the end of His ministry, stood alone. What has been forgotten is that the growth of the church is not the pastor's responsiblity; it's God's (1 Cor. 3:7).

Misperceptions of Success in the Small Church: #3: Successful Pastors Are Program Developers

More misperceptions about success in the small church from Leading the Small Church.

Misperception 3: Successful Pastors Are Program Developers
Some people would say that successful pastors are those who have the capacity to develop, implement, and maintain effective programs and methodologies. They are constantly pushing the church to develop new strategies and programs for growing the church so that it remains on the cutting edge of ministry. They organize social programs, evangelistic events, and recovery groups. They are always sensitive to perceived needs in the church and community, and they develop the right programs in the church to match those needs.

For pastors of small churches, such an emphasis on programs and methods leads only to frustration and cynicism. It is not always that the small church is unwilling to try something new; they simply do not have the luxury of unlimited resources to develop and staff new programs. Instead, they often struggle to survive, barely maintaining existing programs. Defining successful ministries and leaders by the size of their programs creates unnecessary pressure to always be doing something newer and bigger and better.

Feinstein Says It's "Morally Correct" For Taxpayers to Fund Abortion

I wonder where Ms. Feinstein gets her morals?

Should We Be Teaching Pastoral Students About Church Culture?

Nathan Finn, who is a friend of mine, wrote a post about Tim Keller's recommendation that seminary students should gain experience in a small rural church first before moving on to other churches. My comment to Nathan's post was as follows:

Good post. I agree with your encouragement for small church pastors in rural areas. However, I disagree with Tim Keller’s article because he seems to imply that pastoring a small church is a good “start” as if small churches are to be used as “stepping stones” for pastors to gain experience before moving to larger churches.

Also, I would like to see seminaries such as SEBTS begin to recognize that the majority of their students will minister in small churches, whether established or newly planted, and provide courses which will equip them to minister in the small church culture which is a completely different environment than is found in megachurches.

Les

Brother Nathan replied to my comment as follows:

Les, I also disagree with Keller’s implication that smaller churches are a “training ground” for larger churches. Though they perhaps *function* in this way for some pastors, that should never be the motive for taking any pastorate. I’m pretty old school on this, but my personal conviction is that pastors should assume–and hope–that the current church they are serving will be the last church they ever serve. That’s fairly counter-cultural in the SBC, but I’m sticking to it.

SEBTS doesn’t need to “begin to recognize that the majority of their students will minister in small churches. . . .” We already recognize it and frankly always have, long before I was around. We do not teach people to minister in megachurches (or any niche of churches)–we try to give them principles they can use in any and every type of church. Most of the “pastoral wisdom” our professors share with students actually come from small-to-medium church experiences since virtually none of us have pastoral (or other staff) experience in very large churches.

I’m not sure this comment will satisfy you because of your small church advocacy (which I appreciate), but I very strongly believe we don’t need to “provide courses which will equip them to minister in the small church culture.” Our curriculum already does this. And frankly, it also equips the rare student who will minister in a megachurch culture. (emphasis mine)

But I say this because I am firmly convinced that a seminary education doesn’t teach anyone to be a pastor of any size church. One learns to be a pastor by watching other seasoned pastors and with on-the-job experience. The best a seminary education can do is give a man some tools, skills, and priorities that, Lord willing, will aid him as he learns to be a pastor. That’s what we seek to do at SEBTS.

NAF

As I said before, I consider Nathan to be a good friend and I hold his opinion in high esteem. However, I am sonwhat confused when he says "a seminary education doesn’t teach anyone to be a pastor of any size church." This seems to fly into the face of his earlier statement "I very strongly believe we don’t need to 'provide courses which will equip them to minister in the small church culture.' Our curriculum already does this."  Which is it? Does SEBTS curriculum equip pastors to pastor in the small church culture or does SEBTS not teach anyone to be a pastor of any size church?

Also, in reviewing SEBTS curriculum online, I cannot find any specific curriculum that addresses church culture. What I mean by church culture are the characteristics of different types of churches, i.e., suburban, urban, rural, small, medium, large, etc. If there is a course which specifically teaches this at SEBTS, will someone please point me to it?

Is there a difference between the aforementioned types of churches? Many people say there is a great deal of difference. The differentiation in culture between churches has a huge impact on how one approaches the pastoral duties of the church. We all want our churches to do the important things such as worship, evangelism, fellowship, ministry, and discipleship. I don't think anyone is debating that point. The point of difference of opinion is at the implementation phase. How a church does these things may be very different from church to church. Does the type and size of the church impact how these things are done? Absolutely.

The person whom Nathan referenced in his post, Tim Keller, has identified differences in churches and the changes in pastoral approach. Others who have written about different characteristics in churches and how the pastor should work within the culture are noted here, here, here, here, and here.

Nathan said, "The best a seminary education can do is give a man some tools, skills, and priorities that, Lord willing, will aid him as he learns to be a pastor. That’s what we seek to do at SEBTS." Agreed, brother Nathan. However, if our seminaries are overlooking the differences in church cultures and the impact they have on pastoral ministry, then I am afraid you will not meet that goal at SEBTS.

I have witnessed too many young pastors come into small churches without a clue about how a small church operates and try to force the church into his view of the "true church" within the first 90 days of his ministry. Too often this approach results in one of two things: 1) a church split, or 2) firing of the pastor.

For the sake of SBC churches as well as the young men coming out of seminary, I urge SEBTS and all of our seminaries to give them another tool in their pastoral toolbox: teaching them about church culture and the right and wrong ways of engaging them.

Misperceptions of Success in the Small Church: #2: Successful Pastors Are Effective CEOs

More misperceptions about success in the small church from Leading the Small Church.

Misperception 2: Successful Pastors Are Effective CEOs
Another common definition of a successful pastor is one who efficiently and effectively runs the church organization. These pastors have good management skills and are able to make decisions quickly. They have excellent time management techniques, maximizing every minute and minimizing distractions. They don't waste time on meaningless conversation or "chit-chat," but keep their focus on the task at hand. They readily delegate minor issues to others and have their administrative assistants work out all the details. They are task-oriented individuals who strive for visible, definable results.

The problem for many pastors of small churches is that an overly efficient, task-oriented approach would alienate many of the people they serve. Isolating themselves from people in order to "do the work of ministry" would be fatal to the pastor's leadership in the church. To minimize "chit-chat" would undermine one of the more important elements of their ministries---building relationships. Some of the most important shepherding is "inefficient," accomplished not in a formal teaching environment or in a scheduled counseling appointment, but over a cup of coffee, in the cab of a combine, or on a golf course, where pastors have casual opportunities to discuss real-life issues from a biblical perspective. Most of Christ's ministry occurred, in fact, not in a classroom but on thoroughfares and in town squares where He used life situations to convey spiritual truths.

Regeneration Always Precedes Faith and Repentance

From the November 2009 issue of Tabletalk magazine. I completely agree. Glory be to God!

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ." (Eph. 2:4-5)

We have seen repeatedly that God calls us to live a life of repentance, but how can we obey Him if we are born unable to fulfill the command to repent?

The doctrine of moral inability---that we are unable to repent prior to regeneration---is, of course, not embraced by all Christians. No believer would ever want to say that he can merit his salvation or is able, somehow, to appropriate it himself. But ultimately, the way many believers understand the new birth actually assumes that repentance is a result of something we do, apart from God's prior loving choice. Most Christians affirm that being born again happens after we have faith and repentance, that whether or not we are saved is ultimately due to our choosing of Christ. What is assumed here is that all human beings are born with a will that, while it might be inclined toward evil, has enough freedom left (by grace given to all) so that it can choose to repent and follow Jesus.

Certainly, we must affirm that human choice is real and that our decision to submit to Jesus---to repent and trust in Him---is integral to our salvation. But Scripture is clear that no person can make this decision without the special work of God the Holy Spirit, which is not given to all. As Paul tells us in Eph. 2:1-5, we who have believed were dead in our sin before our Creator made us alive. Dead people cannot do anything, and those who are spiritually dead can never decide to put their faith in Christ when they are left to themselves. God must first renew our hearts and grant us the ability to believe. This is the work of regeneration, and it happens before faith and repentance. First the Spirit gives us a new heart and then we exercise faith. Unless we are born again (the condition) we will not see the kingdom of heaven (the result, John 3:3). Regeneration precedes faith and repentance, not the other way around.

The Lord's command to repent and follow Him is impossible unless God changes our hearts. Thus, even repentance is a gift of the Almighty and not something for which we can ever take credit.

For those who may object that God would never ask us to do anything that we cannot do, I refer you to my post on Does God Command People to Do What They Cannot Do.

For those of you who would argue that God's merciful election and irresistible grace turns people into robots, I refer you to my post on My Response to the Robot Argument.