Studies consistently find that growing churches are almost always led by strong pastoral leadership. Unfortunately, too many pastors are not leaders. They have been trained to manage the existing system, not to lead the church into new ministries and new ways of serving. This lack of pastoral leadership is responsible for preventing churches from reaching their ministry potential. If pastoral leadership is so important, why do more pastors not provide that leadership? The reasons are many. Here are some.
Some churches will not permit the pastor to provide the necessary leadership. They are structured around boards and committees that make the decisions which are often finalized by a congregational vote. While this structure worked well in more settled times, in the twenty-first century things change so rapidly that the church must become more fluid in its decision making. Decisions need to be made quickly or opportunities will be missed. Churches need pastors who can lead their churches to respond quickly to ministry opportunities, and our churches need to be willing to follow their pastor's leadership to meet those needs.
Another reason some pastors don't lead is they are afraid of failing. Many are very risk-averse. They see failure as . . .well, failure. They believe that if they fail too many times the church will replace them. So, the less they lead the less likely it is that they will fail. Of course, that also means there is less chance that they church will succeed in its ministry. Leadership guru John Maxwell writes that entrepreneurs fail an average of 3.8 times before succeeding in business. Another leadership expert, Max Depree, claims that leaders are only right about half of the time. I think pastors afraid of risk need to study the life of the apostles. They refused to play it safe. They didn't always get it right. For instance, Paul and Barnabas got into a big fight over whether or not to take John Mark on a second missionary journey, but in the end it worked out well. Peter got rebuked by both Jesus and Paul for his impulsive behavior, but his ministry was highly effective. We need pastors who are not afraid to take risks and churches willing to allow them to take those risks. Playing it safe in the twenty-first century won't get it done.
A third reason some pastors don't lead is they don't know where they or the church is going. It's hard to lead when you don't know where you are going! Many pastors will admit they have no vision for their ministries. Even more bothersome is after they admit they don't have a vision for ministry, two years later they still don't have one. Vision gives direction and purpose to any group of people including churches. Christian psychologist Gary Collins writes, "If you think you can be a leader without being a visionary, forget it. No one will follow your lead if you don't know where you are going."
A fourth reason some pastors don't lead was alluded to in the first paragraph. They were trained to manage the status quo, not lead the church forward. Churches reward pastors for good management. We are rewarded for keeping the wheels greased and conflict down. Most seminaries train their students to be good managers because that is what most churches want. Unfortunately, that management-style of ministry does not lead to effective outreach and growth in the church. I have read that the typical seminary education will prepare a person to pastor a church of about 120 people. This is why the typical North American church averages about 75 people on Sunday morning and why few single-pastor churches grow beyond 120 in their worship services. If we want to see our churches grow our pastors have to develop their leadership skills.
Tomorrow's blog will address toxic leadership in the church. As important as pastoral leadership is to a church, toxic leadership is deadly to a congregation.
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