On the other hand, this lack of character might not stem from a specific, overt pattern of sinfulness. Instead, a lack of character might manifest in sins of “omission”—good things we should do but fail to do. Specifically, too many pastors have not developed an habit of diligence and hard work. Laziness plagues too many pulpits. That said, on the other side of the spectrum, the problem of burnout also presents a danger. Pastors can work hard, not from purpose, but from a need to achieve their own sense of self-worth. Both laziness and burnout can be sins of omission, either failing to do the good works God has prepared for us (Eph. 2:10) or failing to rest in the gospel as the source of our hope.
Breaking Through
Both the purpose barrier and the personal barrier can hinder pastors from leading churches toward growth. Thankfully, the solution for both is the same. The solution is remembering and believing the story we’re called to share. The solution is the gospel. We realign with our purpose and we realign our personal lives as we repent and believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
When we experience afresh the love of Jesus for us, our hearts will be set toward Jesus and his purpose. And his purpose was clear. He sends us out as the Father sent him (John 20:21). He commissions us to make disciples in the neighborhoods and nations in the power of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). Jesus is the solution for the hindrances in our lives—and in our churches and leadership.
Jesus also gives us wisdom and counsel through his Word and Spirit, and through others and the community around us. Cultivating practical wisdom for leadership is not at odds with personal devotion, repentance, faith, and purpose. Instead, these things are all intimately related.
There are “best practices” for leading a growth church that have been developed and deployed over time. We can pursue specific shifts in our leadership approach, like learning how to connect people in our churches to one another rather than just to us as pastors. We can develop strategies for multi-directional care, moving toward a pastoral leadership approach and not just a chaplaincy approach. One great way to pursue this kind of development is through good resources. One of those resources is my Breaking the 200 Barrier seminar at RightNow Pastors+, which develops a lot of these themes with more detail and specific application. Check it out here.
We need to develop both a heart of integrity and skillful hands of faithfulness (Ps. 78:72) to lead our churches toward growth. We’re going to explore these themes in the articles ahead in this series.
As we do, let’s commit to breaking through these barriers. Not just so we can have bigger, more impressive churches or resumes, but so that we can seek the heart of God. His heart beats for his mission, and ours should too.
