Last week, I posted a blog about the things that pastors love least about their job. This week, I asked pastors the opposite question (What two parts of your job do you LOVE?), and here’s what I learned through this study. Below are the top seven responses I received.
1. Preaching and teaching. This one didn’t surprise me. What surprised me was the passion with which pastors made their point. More than 75 percent of the respondents said they love this part of their job.
2. Seeing life change. Pastors long for God to change lives in their congregation, and they love to see it happen. There’s nothing quite like seeing the eyes of a layperson light up with the gospel.
3. Discipling and equipping. Both older and younger pastors are catching this vision and loving it. The older ones see the need to invest their lives in younger pastors, and the younger ones are building discipleship DNA in their church plants.
4. Caring for people. I was surprised by the number of pastors who love pastoral care and/or counseling. Some pastors love bearing others’ burdens, lifting them up in prayer and watching God heal their wounds.
5. Evangelizing and baptizing. Not only is sharing the gospel a joy for some pastors, but they also have the privilege of sharing in the significant act of baptism. Both are an honor to do.
6. Leading and casting vision. While this part could be included under discipleship, some pastors specifically indicated their love for doing leadership development and vision casting. They want to build teams around a clear and compelling vision.
7. Being with people. My guess is that the pastors who gave this response are extroverts by nature, but they nevertheless said that they just love their people.
So, what do we do with these findings? As churches, we must help our pastors excel in the work they most love. That’s not to say they shouldn’t do the things they don’t like to do; it simply means that we need to free them up to work in their strengths.
Based not only on this brief survey but also on other pastor interviews I’ve conducted in my consulting and seminary work, here’s a simple recommendation for churches: Give your pastor sufficient time to prepare sermons and intentionally invest in a few other believers. I suspect all of you will see more life change when you make that commitment.
