Pastors are spiritual vending machines. Well, not really, but some people view their pastors and ministry staff like they view vending machines. You put your money in, you get your spiritual goods and services out.
We live in a consumer society, so it is very common for people to view most everything in our lives from the framework of consumerism, including pastors. But let me turn the tables. Should pastors view the congregation as consumers who give us money? Some pastors do, often devising ways to justify their congregations enriching them. Private jets. Mansions. Luxury vehicles. But that would be wrong for pastors to view their congregations as vending machines. Should it not also be wrong for congregations to view their pastors likewise?
To illustrate how pastors could view their ministry through a consumerist lens, I’ve joked that I could offer BOGO deals. You know BOGO? Buy One Get One. You buy a baptism and I’ll throw in a wedding. You buy an infant dedication and I’ll throw in a funeral.
That might come across very cynical, but I don’t think I’m cynical about it.
At Faith Churchg I haven’t talked about this in years, because I haven’t needed to. Instead, what I have seen from the family of Faith Church is many serious about discipleship to Jesus. For example, when I went on sabbatical in 2018, people stepped out of their comfort zones, serving in ways that previously only I had served. Hosting worship services, for example. From 2008 until 2018, for ten years I was the host nearly every Sunday morning. But when I was not here because I was on sabbatical from January through March of 2018, a rotation of people hosted. They enjoyed it so much, we just kept it going after my sabbatical was over. Having a variety of hosts with a variety of approaches, in my opinion, is a wonderful demonstration of people using their gifts.
Consider the alternative: relying on the pastor to do the work. Historically in the American church, that pastor-reliant mindset was prevalent. The pastor is paid to do ministry, while the people receive the ministry. That mindset is wrong. That consumer mindset goes against what Paul teaches in the epistles.
In 1st Corinthians 12, Paul gives us the metaphor of the church as the body of Christ, and that each part is valuable. Each person is different, each with gifts and abilities, yet all are equally valuable and needed. In Ephesians 4:11-12, he teaches the APEST model of ministry,
“So Christ himself gave the Apostles, the Prophets, the Evangelists, the Pastors [or Shepherds] and Teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
What Paul is saying is that people in churches should not think that they are paying the pastors to do all the work for them. Instead, Paul says in verses 11-12, the job description of pastors is to equip the people to do works of service. In the church, the people are not consumers, they are producers. In the church, there are not spectators, there are participants. Disciples of Jesus are people who are actively practicing their gifts for the mission of the Kingdom. I hope I am helping the people in my congregation grow as disciples of Jesus so that they can do the work of the mission.
But have I helped them grow as disciples of Jesus? If I said, “I have been amazing, and the people of the church have been difficult,” that is not true. I have made plenty of mistakes. I am not and never will be a perfect pastor. There are aspects of pastoral ministry that I will always struggle with. I enjoy the teaching and preaching aspects of pastoral ministry far more than the shepherding parts of pastoral ministry.
Back to that list of APEST gifts from Ephesians 4:11-12. I am more inclined to the role of teacher and prophet than I am to the role of shepherd. The word “pastor” comes from the role of actual shepherds who have animals, sheep. Think about the idea of a pasture, what we would call a pastoral scene. Think of green rolling hills, meadows, where sheep graze, and a shepherd walking around making sure all is well with the sheep. A shepherd cares for the sheep. That’s where we get the idea of a pastor being a shepherd to his flock, the congregation.
Just because I favor teaching, I have still sought to faithfully fulfill the pastoral role, but I sometimes have to force myself, and that means sometimes I know I haven’t done well with it. Many of those times, it is my wife Michelle prompting me, reminding me, to check in with someone. Michelle often asks me about a situation. We are a team in this.
Another part of pastoral or shepherding ministry is confrontation. People confronting me, and me needing to confront others. I did not know the toll that would take on my over the years.
When it comes to all aspects of pastoral ministry, whether confronting which I think I’m terrible at, or teaching with I think I’m better at, I know I have room to grow in that area of ministry too. Shepherding doesn’t come as naturally to me as I feel teaching does.
What I am getting at is that some pastors are not natural extroverts. I absolutely love people and enjoy being around people, but I often have to get up from being perfectly satisfied alone in a corner and go to people. That doesn’t mean I don’t love the people in the church. In fact my action of stepping out of my comfort zone is a sign that I do want to reach out because I overcome my inclination to just stay put.
That might be part of the reason why I have been so surprised and frankly struggled with the dynamic of people leaving the church. I have to work hard to reach out, and then people leave?
I also didn’t realize how death would feel. Maybe 10 years ago, there was a 7 month period when 8 people died, and at least one per month. I couldn’t get away from it. It affected me emotionally.
All this to say, I didn’t realize how much pastoral ministry could hurt. It is a fact that I will not always be pastor of Faith Church. Obviously, I don’t know when that day will come. But it will come. And there will be a new pastor. The same goes for your church. I encourage you, if you haven’t already, start now practicing seeing pastors as people. Not vending machines, but people.
Photo by Victoriano Izquierdo on Unsplash
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