As the year comes to a close, many people are setting their intentions for 2025, creating a list of New Year’s resolutions, and dreaming about all they will do and become in the next year.
Pastors are no exception.
Perhaps you are creating a list of goals you want to accomplish in 2025, milestones you want to pass, habits you want to develop.
You might have big dreams for yourself or your church in the next year. And that’s great!
But, sometimes, becoming the leader God created you to be requires you to focus on what you’re going to stop doing rather than what you plan to start.
Here are three things pastors should strive to stop doing in 2025.
1. Trying To Be Like Other Churches
Most pastors are connected in some way to other churches, whether officially through denominational affiliations and networks or casually through friendships and local partnership efforts.
This is a great thing. Pastors and church leaders benefit from being around others who are leading in similar contexts and can share encouragement and insights from their own experiences.
Nevertheless, pastors are often tempted to compare their church to the churches of their friends and associates. Different pastors gauge success by different metrics, but we all tend to look around to others to see how we’re doing.
And, sometimes, when another church seems to be doing well, we are tempted to try and replicate their success by copying what they are doing—whether it is a new program, a particular discipleship strategy, or even a branding or marketing plan.
We should always be open to gaining new insights from trusted friends and ministry leaders. But we are often tempted to simply copy a strategy of another church we perceive as successful, hoping it will make us successful. But more often than not, it ends in frustration, wasted effort, and an experience akin to David putting on Saul’s armor.
Your church is unique. God has given your congregation a unique voice and culture that he wants to use to carry out his mission in your city. So while we should always pay attention to the wisdom of others, we will be the most “successful” when we lean in to becoming the churches that God has created us to be, rather than trying to look more like the church down the road.
