I really hope you liked last week’s discussion on great character traits and habits for pastor and church leaders. And as promised, here are the other 4 best traits for pastor and church leaders hoping to be in ministry for the long term-
- Teachable nature/growth mindset-This willingness to keep learning really comes from a heart of humility and a desire to please God. How many pastors have we seen through the years that learned one way of preaching/teaching in Bible college, one way of leading worship, one way of counseling and never grew again after that. Decades later they are not reaching new generations due to lack of education and training. Scripture does not change and should not be changed. However, the methods we use to bring the gospel to each generation should match the “language” that generation speaks. If God has called you to reach a certain group of people, shouldn’t you learn their culture, customs and language? Change is not always fun. But if we stubbornly cling to our own methods, are we growing His kingdom? Or our own? In order to really be effective in ministry, all ministers should continually be learning and growing, willing to work and change.
- Genuine- When my husband first met our now senior pastor, my husband turned to me on the drive home and said, “One thing I know, that man is the real deal.” To this day, this is something we really appreciate about our pastor. He is not one person from the pulpit and another in the office and yet another at Walmart. He is not “fake.” He preaches community and he clears his schedule to practice being in community. Pastors can fall to the temptation to develop a “persona” of what they THINK people want to see in that position. But there is no substitute for a real genuine person, serving within their calling. Our pastor has dropped everything to counsel and pray with our kids. He and his wife have sat up with someone dying at the homeless shelter til 3 am. How badly our churches need leaders who are for real!!
- Commitment to their own health- In our culture, spending time on your own physical and mental health can seem “selfish,” especially for a pastor who is supposed to be “self-sacrificing.” However, my doctoral research showed me that pastors have a much higher than average rate of depression, secondary PTSD, health issues, and loneliness. We have already lost too many wonderful pastors because their body or mind or marriage just couldn’t hang on anymore. Churches should be encouraging their pastors to take days off every week, to use all vacation days, to take Sundays off from time to time, to go for doctor’s checkups, to be in pastor cohorts etc. etc. That investment in your pastor will hopefully keep them healthy in their family and in ministry for a long time! Healthy pastor=healthy church.
- Love for people- I don’t know of any pastors that go into ministry thinking, “I really hate people.” I hope not! But unfortunately, I have observed pastors that just seem to lose their love of people over the years. Perhaps it is the hectic schedules, paperwork, horrible things that people do to each other and to them and to themselves, power struggles, infighting…burnout can cause us to see the people we are called as burdens. Like a once spectacular house that is now empty and rundown, a pastor who lost their love for people is also sad and hollow. God is desperately in love with people and with His Church. Sometimes we need to ask God to reignite our passion for the people we serve in His name.
How about YOU? Did I miss a trait that you feel is crucial for pastors to succeed?
The Kidmin Ninja 