So here’s a question for you: What’s a pastor’s job?
Oh, sure, I bet your knee-jerk response, is that the answer’s easy. But really think about it for a second; what should a pastor’s greatest task be; the thing they are ultimately called to, and need to be driven by; the bottom line, non-negotiable, most elemental part of the job description of every man and woman who chooses to be in public ministry?
Lots of people, both inside and outside the church, probably don’t have as clear a picture of what a pastor should do, as they do of what a pastor shouldn’t do. And at the top of the list of what a pastor should never do, many would say, is offend people.
Social media has given pastors a far greater presence in the everyday lives of the people they serve, than they have ever had in history, (including the disciples and all the writers of the Bible). Technology has actually managed to bring “Sunday”, into the rest of the week, in ways the early Church never dreamed of, and allowed Christian leaders to directly infiltrate the culture, not simply preach about it from a detached pulpit.
And while that’s a fairly stunning reality, it also brings with it some serious collateral damage; that every time a pastor speaks, preaches, teaches, Tweets, blogs, or comments, he or she risks ticking somebody off… royally.
I’ll be honest: More and more, I’m pretty OK with that.
It’s not that I particularly want those who look to me for spiritual guidance, or life advice, or moral leadership, to be damaged by something I say, but if I’m going to be the pastor that God wired me to be, (the pastor that the people I serve deserve, and say that they want), I may need to say some things that will be difficult to hear. It’s the eventual bi-product of talking openly about stuff that matters.
I’m worried that many pastors no longer want to risk going to that place.
In fact, too many ministers spend the bulk of their careers, striving to retain members, rather than to grow disciples. They seem far more committed to filling their buildings, than to expanding the Kingdom, but honestly, can you blame them?
The Church in America has become big business these days; with faith communities featuring sprawling campuses, state-of-the-art facilities, and well paid, talented staffs, dotting practically every corner of our country. And these are all the direct result of the investments of hardworking, sacrificial, ordinary folks. (Translation: Church people pay church salaries).
The pewsitters of the congregation are, in effect, the bosses of the pastoral staff, or at the very least, they are the benefactors, which makes for a strange, precarious dynamic in many churches. The pastor’s responsibility, is to faithfully and boldly lead his or her people with honesty and passion, but as they do that, there comes a moment where, well to be honest, you’re gonna “anger your investors”.
And that, is often where self-preservation trumps personal conviction.
Lots of professional Christians end up, playing sanctified politicians; always testing the theological waters, continually straddling the line between caregiver and troublemaker, careful to mildly agitate, but not completely alienate. And this dizzying balancing act is born of the seemingly rational fear pastors have, that if they offend people, those people will leave the church.
And many pastors often decide, that their main job, is to keep people from leaving… I say, baloney.
Having been around churches a long time, I’ll tell you what you probably already know: People leave churches every day.
They leave because the music’s too loud.
They leave because the parking lot was too hard to get through.
They leave because the church bought new TV’s.
They leave because the service times changed.
They leave because no one thanked them for bringing macaroni and cheese to the covered dish.
They leave because they don’t like how the pastor dresses.
They leave because the church is too small or too big, or too slick or too unprofessional.
If I could speak to every pastor, minister and youth worker in the world, I would remind them, that people will leave their churches for a million reasons. Yes, they may leave because of what they say, but they may leave because of their silence, too.
There are largely two kinds of pastors out there in the churches you’re a part of; ones who do all they can not to offend the people they serve, because they think that is loving them; and those who love the people they serve enough, to risk offending them.
I believe the pastor’s job, is ultimately to love the people entrusted to them.
Love, when it is real; is sometimes intrusive, and annoying… and offensive.
The next time you’re offended by someone in ministry, take a breath, and consider whether or not this is reason to go somewhere else, or the very reason to stay right where you are; where you are really loved.
