What are the signs of a good pastor?
I meet a lot of pastors. Some have a tremendous amount of influence with the people they serve. You can tell they love their people and their people would fight hell with a water pistol for them. Others, no matter how hard they try, have limited influence at best. It feels transactional at best. I was reminded today of what often differentiates the two.
In today’s service at Piedmont Church in Marietta, Ga., student pastor Daniel Roberts was delivering the offering talk. He told the story of his wife, who teaches 2nd grade, overhearing a child telling his classmates that he has no bed and must sleep on the sofa. Daniel’s wife came home and asked if there was anything their family or the church could do.
It was then Daniel said the words which is a sure sign you are a pastor people will follow. Daniel said, “I’ll call Marlon. He’ll know what to do.”
The Marlon he was referring to is Marlon Longacre, Piedmont’s community pastor. Marlon is incredibly popular in our church and community and a key catalyst for our church’s growth.
After hearing about this young child sleeping on a sofa, Marlon immediately went into action. He sent out a note to his email list and had not one, not two, but THREE beds within 24 hours. Additional calls are also coming in about sheets, pillows, bed spreads and delivery trucks.
One call to Marlon solved all the problems facing this child’s sleeping arrangements in one day.
Signs of Good Pastor
The following are 8 signs of a good pastor people will follow that I gleaned from Daniel’s story:
- A Pastor People Will Follow Is Trustworthy – Marlon has a proven track record for success. People can count on him.
- A Pastor People Will Follow Is Accessible – When Daniel reached out to Marlon, he could actually get him to answer his phone.
- A Pastor People Will Follow Is Proactive – Marlon immediately went into action.
- A Pastor People Will Follow Is Compassionate – Marlon genuinely cares about the poor and under-resourced in our community. He loves people.
- A Pastor People Will Follow Is Relational – Marlon does not hide in the green room. The reason Marlon had a number of people he could reach out to is because he spends countless hours building relationships with them.
- A Pastor People Will Follow Provides Solutions – When there is a problem, who do you naturally think about and turn to? You want to look for someone like Marlon who is proactive, compassionate and has a network of people he can call for help.
- A Pastor People Will Follow Is Someone Who Gets the Job Done – If you cannot take people from Point A to Point B, why would anyone follow you? They would simply follow someone who can get them to their desired destination.
- A Pastor People Will Follow Is Grateful – It is truly a honor, privilege and calling for Marlon to respond to needs like this.
Are you a pastor people will follow? If not, what is one thing from the list above that you can implement to increase your influence?
This article about signs of a good pastor originally appeared here.