Pastoral Longevity
As I approach the 9 month marker of being the worship pastor at my church, I can't help but ponder the statistic that I heard most recently from a John Piper sermon: The average pastor last about 2.5 years at a church in America. If this is true then how does a church every really grow spiritually. Let's think about this. One of the primary jobs of a pastor is to sheperd the flock of God's children, especially through teaching. So if a church changes pastors every 3-7 years on the wider average, is it possible for them to consistently see spiritual growth, at least with regards to the leadership from the pulpit? Typically it takes a new pastor about a year or sometimes two years to get to know the congregation, cast a vision, relationally share life with members, or figure out how to work well with staff. So if he leaves at the end of a two and a half year stint his time was pretty much worthless with regard to truly sheperding.
Here is my thinking as a Father. I was called to be a husband to my wife and father to my 3 and soon to be 4 children. According to scripture I was called to be the 4P's to them: Priest, Prophet, Provider and Protector. This is not a calling that I can give up on when I grow weary or to use a more common term "burn out." I cannot be fired from my job as a father for not doing a good job, however I can be encouraged or even rebuked and held accountable to do a better job, and if I never step up to participate in my calling they way Christ commands me to then I will suffer his judgement when I see him. If my wife and I argue I cannot leave my calling to be her husband. If my children rebel I cannot stop loving them, parenting them, educating them, or praying for them.
I am not saying that my calling to headship is in everyway the same as the call to the pastorate, however I think there are major similarities. I am not saying that after years of faithful service that God would not lead a man and his family to a different area and church to do it all over again. What I am saying is that if the average pastoral tenure in an American church is 2.5 years then there is something really wrong. Here is a list of possibilities:
1. The man may have never really been called or as Oswald Chambers coins it, "compelled" to pastor a church. In my experience, there have been far too many pastors who "felt called" to the ministry of "running" a church, or "numerically growing" a church rather than sheperding a church.
2. The churches that make up the average of this particular statistic are filled with people who lead the happenings at their "institution" more than a pastor or elders or committees ever would be allowed. These are usually churches steeped in tradition and legalism, that profess to desire a biblical church but will not budge if it requires change that leads to the least bit of discomfort. I have personally seen this happen with pastor friends who were asked to come lead a church and then just as quickly given the boot because he wanted to change too much.
3. This ties into point one. There is this idea, I'm afraid, that the calling to pastor a church has more to do with the consideration of church size, salary, insurance, 403B or special packages than the heart for self sacrifice for the purpose and hope of leading the people to Jesus in such a way that revival of the heart is seen and not just planned and recorded. I have talked to pastors who will tell you that they are simply at their current church as a stepping stone to the next one, which they hope will be real, authentic and Christ following, but which they also hope will be nice, new, large, and beneficial by means of financial security and a comfortable lifestyle.
I am not saying that asking about the salary or the insurance is a bad thing. I am not saying that you can never move from one church to another. I am not even challenging a pastor's call to preach, although I would certainly recommend an examination of it. What I am saying is that there are alot of reasons that the church in America is in the worldly state it is in, and at least the view of pastoral longevity could be examined as one of them. We live in a society that says "do what is right for you" and "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." But I imagine the saying for those men compelled to preach to and sheperd a flock, so much so that they would follow Jesus example unto death, would go more like this: When the going gets tough, the tough stay put!
Here is my thinking as a Father. I was called to be a husband to my wife and father to my 3 and soon to be 4 children. According to scripture I was called to be the 4P's to them: Priest, Prophet, Provider and Protector. This is not a calling that I can give up on when I grow weary or to use a more common term "burn out." I cannot be fired from my job as a father for not doing a good job, however I can be encouraged or even rebuked and held accountable to do a better job, and if I never step up to participate in my calling they way Christ commands me to then I will suffer his judgement when I see him. If my wife and I argue I cannot leave my calling to be her husband. If my children rebel I cannot stop loving them, parenting them, educating them, or praying for them.
I am not saying that my calling to headship is in everyway the same as the call to the pastorate, however I think there are major similarities. I am not saying that after years of faithful service that God would not lead a man and his family to a different area and church to do it all over again. What I am saying is that if the average pastoral tenure in an American church is 2.5 years then there is something really wrong. Here is a list of possibilities:
1. The man may have never really been called or as Oswald Chambers coins it, "compelled" to pastor a church. In my experience, there have been far too many pastors who "felt called" to the ministry of "running" a church, or "numerically growing" a church rather than sheperding a church.
2. The churches that make up the average of this particular statistic are filled with people who lead the happenings at their "institution" more than a pastor or elders or committees ever would be allowed. These are usually churches steeped in tradition and legalism, that profess to desire a biblical church but will not budge if it requires change that leads to the least bit of discomfort. I have personally seen this happen with pastor friends who were asked to come lead a church and then just as quickly given the boot because he wanted to change too much.
3. This ties into point one. There is this idea, I'm afraid, that the calling to pastor a church has more to do with the consideration of church size, salary, insurance, 403B or special packages than the heart for self sacrifice for the purpose and hope of leading the people to Jesus in such a way that revival of the heart is seen and not just planned and recorded. I have talked to pastors who will tell you that they are simply at their current church as a stepping stone to the next one, which they hope will be real, authentic and Christ following, but which they also hope will be nice, new, large, and beneficial by means of financial security and a comfortable lifestyle.
I am not saying that asking about the salary or the insurance is a bad thing. I am not saying that you can never move from one church to another. I am not even challenging a pastor's call to preach, although I would certainly recommend an examination of it. What I am saying is that there are alot of reasons that the church in America is in the worldly state it is in, and at least the view of pastoral longevity could be examined as one of them. We live in a society that says "do what is right for you" and "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." But I imagine the saying for those men compelled to preach to and sheperd a flock, so much so that they would follow Jesus example unto death, would go more like this: When the going gets tough, the tough stay put!
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