Anyone who begins to pastor a church should recognize two big things: There are lessons to be learned if you are ever to do this well, and most of them are learned the hard way. When it comes to leading God’s Church, your scars will attest to your education.
Most of this is counter-intuitive; that is, not what one might expect.
10 Hard Lessons About Leading God’s Church
One. Bigness is overrated.
“It doesn’t matter to the Lord whether He saves by the few or the many” (I Samuel 14:6). Most pastors, it would appear, want to lead big churches, want to grow their church to be huge, or wish to move to a large church. Their motives may be pure; judging motives is outside my skill set. But pastoring a big church can be the hardest thing you will ever try, and far less satisfying than one would ever think.
Small bodies can be healthy too; behold the hummingbird or the honeybee.
A friend says, “At judgement, a lot of pastors are going to wish they’d led smaller congregations.”
Two. The pastor’s lack of formal education is no excuse.
The pastor of the small church will often have less formal training and education than he would like. Not surprisingly, he sometimes feels inferior to his colleagues with their seminary degrees. I have two thoughts on that:
–It’s a mistake. He can be as learned as they are and more if he applies himself. Let the Lord’s preachers not be overly impressed by certificates on the wall or titles before their name. Better the preacher who’s got it on the ball than one who’s got it on the wall!
–He can get more formal education if he decides it’s God’s will and if he is willing. Seminaries and Bible colleges have online programs that make advanced education practical and affordable.
My dad, a coal miner and the oldest of a dozen children, had to leave school after the 7th grade and entered the mines at age 14. But he never quit learning. He took correspondence courses and read constantly. When God took him to Heaven at almost 96 years of age, Mom had to cancel four or five magazine subscriptions he was still taking and reading.
Some of the finest preachers of God’s word have led God’s church little formal theological education.
