What pastors wish church members knew
Many pastors deal with overwhelming anxiety that threatens to disable them and render them powerless to do anything. Anxiety can produce both physical and emotional symptoms; some are so severe they disrupt a pastor’s personal life, family life and work.
What causes this?
- Stunted church growth or shrinking membership. Mention church growth and some pastors immediately feel terror in their hearts. They might mistakenly believe that an abundance of warm bodies in the pews spells s-u-c-c-e-s-s. Success in ministry, of course, cannot be measured with the world’s yardsticks, but some church leaders and members expect the pastor to numerically “grow” the church. One anxious pastor confessed, “I fear having to take the blame for our nongrowing church.”
Another said, “Lack of physical growth in my church and inconsistent church growth keep me awake at night.”
- Dwindling church resources. When tithes slow down and people stop giving money, pastors often fear for their churches’ survival. In most churches, giving in general has decreased. Americans now are giving more money to charitable organizations than to churches. The situation is so grave that churches are accepting credit card payments and encouraging automatic checking account deductions.
- A congregation’s lack of spiritual growth. Pastors know that when a church forsakes its first love, Jesus Christ, or becomes lukewarm (like the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14–23), it becomes little more than a social club.
A pastor confessed, “I fear we are becoming a self-absorbed consumer church. The Holy Spirit seems to no longer be the active force behind our church. He has been replaced with activity and busyness. Not many people are excited anymore about missions or the church’s spiritual state.”
- Hedonism in the church. Hedonism is a self-indulgent devotion to pleasure, which often becomes a primary way of life. One pastor said, “The most discouraging, frustrating and scary thing about ministry to me is that I so often find people wanting to play church rather than really being honest with God and with each other. The lack of true commitment to God that I sense, not only in my church but the shallowness of so much American Christianity, seems more focused on ‘me’ and ‘what I want’ rather than on God and what He wants for a hurting, dying world outside the Church.”
What you can do to help your pastor:
- As a church, reassure your pastor of your love for him, the value of his ministry and your appreciation for the gifts he brings to the church. Let him know his position is secure.
- Encourage your pastor to preach God’s Word without compromise.
- Know that the Holy Spirit is solely responsible for church growth. Be careful not to blame your pastor for those things he can’t control.
- Pray for the spiritual growth of your fellow church members.
- Prayerfully examine your own heart about your church participation.
Denise George is the author of ‘What Pastors Wish Church Members Knew’ and numerous other books. Denise and her husband, Timothy George (founding dean of Beeson Divinity School), are members of Shades Mountain Baptist Church. For more information, visit www.authordenisegeorge.com.
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