Don't be the church

I had a call yesterday from a bivocational pastor who seems near burnout. He wanted a coach but wasn't ready to commit to a coaching relationship yet.  The church is struggling a little financially due to the current economic situation, and he expects a salary cut by the end of the year.  He only works part time.  His family is already struggling financially, and a salary cut at the church will only make things worse.  When I asked how many people normally attended services he responded about 50 people attend on Sunday morning.  I then asked why he could not work a full-time job with a church that size.  He felt that he would not be able to be able to respond as pastor quickly enough in times of emergencies if he had a full-time job.  It was then I told him it sounded like he had become the church.

I was in his shoes about my fifth year in my pastorate.  I was physically and mentally exhausted and about ready to give up.  At a judictory meeting I spoke with one of our leaders about my situation.  He explained that my problem was that I had become the church.  I was the person doing everything that was getting done in the church.  He told me that not only was I damaging myself in the process I was preventing the congregation from learning how to be the church.  Everything he said was right on target, and the longer I remain in ministry the more bivocational ministers I see making the same mistake that I and yesterday's caller has made.

According to Ephesians 4 our role as ministers is to equip the saints to do the work of ministry; it is not to do all the work of ministry.  Yes, there are tasks that are primarily the responsibility of the pastor, but there are many other things that many of us do that rightly should be done by others.  By the way, this is not only a problem for bivocational ministers.  I recently had lunch with a fully-funded pastor who is also trying to do much more than he should, and he has nearly burned himself out in the process.

We need to be training the people sitting in the pews how to identify and use the gifts God has given them.  If we do not we are cheating them out of the opportunity to be used in signficant ministries that God has called them to do, and we are shortchanging the church by not making those ministries available to others.  People need to understand that discipleship is more than attending a Sunday school class and memorizing some Bible stories and principles.  Discipleship is about putting into practice those things we have learned.

If you are scurrying around like a rat in a maze, exhausted, frustrated, unable to spend quality time with your family and your own self-care, you are probably doing way more than God ever called you to do.  You need to slow down, begin to train your lay people to do ministry, and take a healthier approach to the calling God has placed on your life.  Don't be the church.  The Kingdom needs all your people to be the church.