One of the most important responsibilities of pastors is to provide clarity for their congregations. Congregations need to have clear understandings of their church’s mission in the world, how this particular church is going to carry out their mission in their community and what each member’s responsibility is within the church’s mission. No one in the church should have to guess about what their church is doing and what they, as individual members, need to be doing to make sure that mission is accomplished.
This moment of clarity, however, doesn’t start with the church, but with the pastor. In my experience, too many pastors don’t do the necessary soul work to have solidified their identity in Christ. They get busy getting their seminary degree. Then, they start working in a church or other ministry setting and get busy “working for Jesus.” As a result, too many pastors look for validation and recognition outside themselves. They wait for the church to tell them what kind of pastor they need to be. They wait to be defined by friends or spouses. Sometimes, they’ll lose themselves to a cause or issue. Either way, they lose themselves in a confusion of opinions and neurotic congregational needs and then crash or burn out trying to keep up with them.
Let’s begin with an obvious statement… Jesus owns us. He created us and bought us with a price. Therefore, it’s Jesus and Jesus alone who can define us. Our identity as persons and then, as pastors, can only be given by Jesus. Any other source of meaning, value or self is nothing more than a placebo – a fake notion that will feel good for a while but quickly fade under the heated glare of local church leadership. Every pastor, like every disciple, has to know who they are in Christ. This begins with the basics. Every pastor is a sinner. Every pastor is forgiven. Every pastor is restored to a relationship with Christ and then called to serve the Savior and His kingdom. I know these are obvious and basic, but we can’t take them for granted. For instance, one of the ways Satan tries to discourage pastors is by bringing up past failures. By recounting our darkest moments, the pastor wonders why anyone would listen to him because of all his failures. Only when pastors remember they are saved by the mercy of Christ and commissioned in grace can they withstand Satan’s constant taunting. Second, pastors should be constantly reminded the sermon is about Jesus and His redemptive work, not about them. The reminder, as basic as it is, is a life saver for pastors — Sunday after Sunday.
This means pastors have to stay deep in their own prayer life and Bible study. Pastors have to be reminded daily of what Christ has done and is doing in their lives. They have to hear again the call to serve God’s people with the message of grace and hope. More than anything, they have to be reminded they’re secure in Christ. And that security isn’t affected by the way the world… or the church… feels at any given moment. Ministry, however it is expressed, comes out of the overflow of the Spirit’s presence in our own lives.
Make sure you give the Spirit time to work in your own life before you expect the Spirit to work in your church.
