Pastor Profiles

God has called the body of Christ to work in a certain way, as the members, the "parts," do their work to the glory of God.  And, we have been given shepherds who have been uniquely gifted to equip the
saints. 1st Peter 5 says:
1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:
2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly...

Later in the passage, we see a reference to the Chief Shepherd, Jesus, our Good Shepherd, to whom we all submit.  So, there is a chain of command in the church - God the Father; Jesus the Son, the head of the body of Christ; then the shepherds, who lead and teach those in the flock, equipping and encouraging by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are called to submit to the authority of the spiritual leaders who are called by God.  In respecting them, we can pray for, affirm, and support their efforts, as God directs them.

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In Ephesians 4, we see that God has called certain people to serve in spiritual authority and exercise
their gifts, so the Church might be strong and equipped to do the will of God:
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ...

We talk often on Faith Radio about our pastors and the need to support them.  I think that understanding where they are coming from or what they're going through are key components to being good congregation members.  Realize they have a high call from God, but they're in a tough spot - they are being looked to, I would project, to proclaim the truth, to please the congregation and meet its expectations, and to personally keep things together.   They need a regular infusion of the Spirit of God in order to be an excellent ambassador of the Most High.

The Barna Group, in partnership with Pepperdine University has released an exhaustive study that is called, The State of Pastors.  There is a press release on the Religion News Service website that highlights some of the findings of the study.

The really good news from the survey, according to that press release, is that pastors generally think things are going well - greater than 9-in-10 report "a good overall quality of life," and 88 percent "describe their spiritual well-being as excellent or good." But, "a troubling number of pastors are at risk of burnout (1 in 3), and nearly half face relational risks in their marriages, families, and friendships."

Break that down, though, and you still see some encouraging signs.  The Barna website actually has some figures relative to their relationships.  Among Protestant pastors 18 and up, 70% say their marriages are excellent, while 26% describe that relationship as good.  Regarding parenting, 60% believe that relationship is excellent, with 36% describing it as good.  But about one-quarter have faced significant marriage or parenting problems during their time as pastors.

On the topic of friendships, about a third say their satisfaction with friendships is excellent, with another third describing them as good.  The summary press release does say about pastors, "They are more likely than the general population to feel isolated and lonely. Gen-X pastors in particular seem to have a harder time making friends and feeling connected—they’re more similar to people their age (30s-40s) in the general population than to their ministry colleagues."

There are two more issues I want to point to - one deals with the aging of Protestant cleary members. The press release states:

"As other careers woo Millennials and older generations struggle to hand the baton to younger pastors, the median age of pastors has risen from 44 to 54 over the last 25 years.” Protestant churches face a massive leadership shortage in the coming decades, similar to that seen in the Catholic Church. The situation appears bleak: 7 out of 10 pastors report that it’s becoming more difficult to identify promising pastoral candidates.

And, here's a shocker that actually might give some insight into some of the cultural decline that we have been seeing:

Only 8 percent of adults are interested in hearing pastoral teaching on issues such as same-sex marriage/LGBT rights, abortion, gun rights, tax policy, climate change, drug policy, or religious freedom. Pastors’ influence in broader culture has diminished in general; most U.S. adults express ambivalence about pastors: “Most don’t actively hate pastors, they just don’t especially care.” Pastors perceive the culture’s growing indifference; only 22% say respect for clergymembers by their community is excellent; 7 in 10 say it’s merely good or average.

So, it seems you may have complacency or indifference in the pews, perhaps leading to a mild contempt from the pastors.  It's got to be tough to have a mantle and a word from God, but you may not be confident that it will be received.  We depend on our pastors to lead, but the congregation has to be willing to follow.  And, on cultural issues, it seems too many church attendees have tuned out.

So, I want to offer three takeaways springboarding off this information.  First of all, pray for and affirm your pastor.  He has been chosen and appointed by God to speak the Word of God to the local church and to shepherd God's flock - it's an enormous responsibility, and he needs extraordinary strength.

Next, be sure to be engaged; find new ways to participate.  Remember, as church members, we are not called just to be consumers; we are to be encouraged in church to be the church.   Don't be guilty of merely saying, "oh, that was a nice sermon," or the converse, "preacher didn't do so well today." Allow God's Word to change you.

Finally, we are not called to keep truth to ourselves. Realize that the call to Christian service is Scriptural and potentially revolutionary in our culture.   Our pastors and church staff members work long and hard to equip and encourage the body - and it's for a purpose, not for a self-sustaining local church, but for a God-honoring Church - the body of Christ.