What do your people believe would be their personal experience with you based upon their observation of your conduct? Bottom line: This is something you can’t fake. Regardless of the size of your congregation, if you are there for people in ‘prime time’ and do what you can to express love and support for those you lead, they will know that you love them and that will cover a multitude of sins.
3) Admit When You Are Wrong:
This is where most pastors go down, and this was the demise of the man whose firing prompted this blog. Pastors can believe grace, exegete grace and preach grace with little sense of their own need for it.
Pastors are frequently wrong. Our opinion is flawed, our conduct is imperfect, our leadership is lacking and even our best intentions can come up short.
Where a pastor believes that admission of error is a diminishment of his capacity to lead, the clock is winding down upon his demise. In a board meeting, at the front of the church, in correspondence and in personal interaction, the pastor must continuously reach for the mea culpa. Failure to do so elevates self, undermines credibility and isolates dissenters.
Simply admit it when you are wrong. If you can’t see it, accept it by faith, and you will lengthen your tenure with any even mildly mature gathering of God’s people.
Just those three things, do them consistently and you will do better as a pastor and last longer in any church for the glory of God’s great Son.
