Without knowing it, most pastors today are harming thousands of people while trying to save one person. You ask, “How so?” Well, one of the main problems with pastoral leadership today is most pastors are plagued with so much mercy and grace that they spend untold hours trying to save a person. Usually this person is; a. either a staff person who is well loved but totally ineffective; or b. is a dysfunctional member of the church who constantly causes disruptive hell
In both cases such graceful action may or may not save the ineffective or dysfunctional person but it always results in less fruit for the Kingdom. Ineffective staff causes the Kingdom and the local church to not only fail to reach new people but also loses members who are looking for a leader. Dysfunctional, disruptive people cause healthy people either to leave the church or not return after their first visit.
The problem here is that too many pastors are like counselors than transformers. They focus more on getting along than on rocking someone’s boat. In other words, they see pastoral care to be the main thing about ministry. As long as this is the primary emphasis of a pastor, then thousands will go unchanged while a handful of ineffective and/or dysfunction people continue to get their spiritual diapers changed.
What is needed today are pastors whose primary task in life is bringing in the Kingdom by focusing on the transformation of people and society. In other words the primary need today is leaders who think like missionaries with the apostolic gift of transformation. These kind of pastors have no time to waste on the ineffective and dysfunctional staff or members. Instead they show them the door. In the final analysis that is the ultimate gift of mercy for both the congregation and the Kingdom. It makes no sense wasting tons of hours trying to save one while thousands pass by our churches everyday untouched with the Gospel.
Bill Easum
www.effectivechurch.com
www.nextlevelcoachingnetwork.net
January 31st, 2012 on 3:32 pm
So I guess you’d advise Jesus to ditch Judas… as he was obviously trouble, get rid of Thomas… all those doubts were unhealthy…… and as for Peter, well give him the keys to the Kingdom and you’d be looking at a car wreck!
You write about effective pastors; ‘These kind of pastors have no time to waste on the ineffective and dysfunctional staff or members. Instead they show them the door.’
That maybe be good organizational or management practice, but it seems the exact opposite of the way Jesus dealt with His staff!
February 3rd, 2012 on 3:25 pm
Well, john, Jesus did ditch Judas. What more can I say.
February 28th, 2012 on 2:52 am
The issue is unrepentance. Jesus does tell us to ditch unrepentant people. (Mt 18) Once unrepentance is confirmed by the wisdom of community then let them be to you as a Gentile and tax collector. Of course, both can still get on the team again, but it will take the humbling realization that one is not the center of the church universe.
February 29th, 2012 on 4:19 am
I would probably change the term from “counselors” to “chaplains” in the case of pastors who focus more on individual care than apostolic calling. I actually don’t see a whole lot of counseling going on in the churches I am aware of, though they do spend an inordinate amount of time with the dysfunctional, which is something a chaplain kind of feels obligated to in his/her role.