Pray for us, brethren, that the Lord’s message may spread rapidly and be honored…and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not all have faith. (II Thessalonians 3:1-2)

Don’t read this article without the preceding one. That one led to this one.

What happened was this.

I put on Facebook this question: “What are 10 things you wish pastors would stop doing?”

I was unprepared for the answers. They poured in. Within a few minutes, we had 35 or 40 comments. Most were helpful, but a few showed real pain or even anger.

By the time we had racked up 75 or 80 comments, several pastors who read the contributions sent up white flags, calling for help. One said, “Joe, this really hurts.”

When someone suggested we turn the question around and ask, “How do church members fail their pastors,” the comments multiplied just as quickly.

As several noted, there seems to be a lot of pain out there in the pastor/member relationship. It would be great if we could do something, however small, toward healing that breach and lessening the anger.

Here, then, are my Top 10 Ways Church Members Fail Their Pastors. It’s sent forth not to add kindling to a raging fire, but balm to some sore places.

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Or, we could turn this around and call it “10 positive things some pastors do to build healthy churches.”

But we won’t.

I know what it takes to get people to read this stuff. (smiley-face goes here.)

The God who called us into His service and sent us into the pastoral ministry has a vested interest in seeing that we do it right and well. The fact that we are all over the map–as opposed to the strait and narrow–and disorganized in our approach–as opposed to a sharp focus–lies at our doorstep and not His.

That God would deign to use flawed and faltering creatures like us says volumes about His grace and mercy.

We are burdened for the younger generation of pastors coming along who are still trying to find their proper role, still trying to nail down their identity as pastors, and still trying to fine-tune the focus of their life-work.

This list of “10 ways pastors fail their people” is all about how my generation got it wrong. Not entirely, of course. But way too much.

In no particular order, they are:

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It comes as a surprise only to a very few that pastoring a church can be extremely hard work. Rewarding, yes. Fulfilling, challenging, and blessed. But there are times when it taxes the child of God to the core of his being, when it tests his sanity, and drives him to question everything he ever believed about the faith he is proclaiming and the people he is serving.

Only the strong need apply.

They used to say that only the hardiest of stock settled the early American west. “The cowards never started and the weak died along the way.”

There’s something about that which fits the ministry.

What triggered all this for me was the sports guys on ESPN the other day talking about Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback. He’s had an ankle injury this year, and has been making every effort to play on in spite of it. Whether this is smart or foolhardy, we’ll leave to other people. The commentators were of one mind on it, however: Isn’t Big Ben great! He doesn’t give in to a little injury. He knows how to play hurt!

Playing hurt.

I’ve played hurt. You too, pastor? I will go so far as to say that every pastor who stays in the Lord’s work for any period of time will sooner or later “play hurt.” He will have a serious burden or strong opposition or major trial or some kind of massive handicap which would destroy a lesser individual (“a career-ending injury” it’s called in sports), but he still stands in the pulpit preaching, still goes to the office, still leads his church.

Every week I hear from pastors and/or their wives with similar stories of great upheavals in their ministries. The one this week said, “I perceive that you too have had troubles and trials in your life. That’s why I decided to write you.”

She said what the others have say: “Please do not use any details from my story. I wouldn’t want this to get out to certain people.”

If they only knew. Each story is so similar to all the others, one would think it was the same thing happening repeatedly.

Take the letter this week.

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I remember that sermon like it was last month. I was one year into pastoring First Baptist Church of Columbus, Mississippi, and as a 34-year-old determined to say something significant on the cultural disease afflicting this country, chose Super Bowl Sunday to address America’s fascination with sport.

How well I did it is another matter.

Last week, a lady who had been in the congregation that morning came across the printed copy of that message and forwarded it to me. “It will give you the giggles,” she said.

After reading it, the only thing I could see that would make her say that was my reference to the New Orleans Saints as losers. Which they were, at that time.

All right. Here’s the printed copy of the sermon. At the conclusion, I’ll share where the sermon came from and what happened afterwards.

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C. S. Lewis was fielding questions from his audience. Someone asked how important church attendance and membership are to living a successful Christian life. From his book “God in the Dock,” his answer:

My own experience is that when I first became a Christian, about 14 years ago, I thought that I could do it on my own, by retiring to my rooms and reading theology, and I wouldn’t go to the churches and Gospel Halls; and then later I found that it was the only way of flying your flag; and of course, I found this meant being a target.

It gets you out of your solitary conceit. It is not for me to lay down laws, as I am only a layman, and I don’t know much.

Yeah, right. C. S. Lewis doesn’t know much. Oh, that I knew as little as he.

Solitary conceit. That one has snagged my attention and will not turn me loose. I see it in Christians who stand aloof from church attendance, in pastors who will not associate with other ministers, and in myself.

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A followup to yesterday’s article on a church taking a vote on firing the pastor.

Among the responses that began to flow in from yesterday’s article “What the Pastor Said Before the Vote” was a private note from a woman I know from the internet. “All right then, Brother Joe, tell me: under what circumstances can a pastor be terminated?”

I was on my way out the door–friends were being appointed to the mission field in a service in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and I was headed that way–so my reply to her was: “Unethical, unbiblical, immoral, illegal.”

All of that is true.

But it’s not all that should be said on the subject. Those four areas are often complex, and deserve thoughtful consideration from mature and godly church leadership teams.

Anyone who regularly reads this website knows two things about me: 1) I am pro-pastor, 2) but not blind. I know there are people occupying the pastor’s office who need to be put out of the ministry, and I am in favor of that. We do the Lord no favor when we keep employing (or recommending) poor excuses for ministers of the gospel.

What I am not in favor of is impatient, worldly, or controlling church members making the decision whether a good and faithful brother continues at a church, regardless of what the Living God has to say about the matter.

Okay. With that having been said, let’s fire a pastor, shall we? Here is how it’s done.

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They’re voting on the preacher at the end of today’s worship service. He may be looking for a job before noon. Or, it could work out well. Either way, the pastor and his wife have turned it all over to the Lord, and while it would be catastrophic in some ways to have their lives turned upside down this way, their focus is on the Lord and not man. Here is some of what he told the church before the vote.

I’m glad to see so many in Weak Sister Church today. A friend of mine says there are two ways to get a big crowd in church: welcome a new preacher or run the old one off.

Some of you haven’t been to Weak Sister in a while. I am sincerely glad to see you here. I do have a special word for you, but not yet. Please bear with me a few moments while I address the believers.

I need to say one big thing to the congregation this morning, no matter how you plan to vote: My friends, what we are doing today is not about me.

I know you’ve been told it was all about me, whether I’m to continue as your pastor. And that much is true. It’s very possible I could be fired this morning.

You need to know that either way this vote goes, my family and I are fine. We have never looked to the church–or any group in the church–as our resource, but to the Lord. He alone is our strength. He called us into this ministry and He sent us to this church. And even if you decide the Lord made a mistake and vote to terminate our employment, the Lord is faithful and we are held in the palm of His hand.

That said, there are much larger issues at stake here.

If this vote today is not about me, then what is it about?

I’m glad you asked.

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Not being into psychoanalysis–or for that matter, not being into picking up on subliminal vibes from people even a little–I do not know all the reasons why good people do some of the dumb things they do.

Take church people and how they relate to their preachers, for instance.

Sometimes members of the flock do nice things for their shepherd in cruel ways. They offer good gifts but on looking closely, you can see the hooks attached. They offer sweet praise with barbs on the end.

Do they know what they are doing? Are they aware that in doing these things they only add to the burdens of their spiritual leaders? Do they know they’re being cruel?

I expect most of us would disagree with our answers on that. I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Here are several “gifts” no pastor wants or needs or should ever receive from those who value his ministry and wish to encourage him.

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Is there scriptural evidence for church staffs?

There is no text that says “Thou shalt employ other ministers on your staff to take some of the work from you.”

However, there is plenty of biblical evidence for multiple pastors in churches, and that may be (or may not be; our information about those churches is sketchy at best) all we require to proceed in this area.

(Of course, that brings up the question of whether we even need scriptural precedent for every decision we make, every ministry we branch into. Last Saturday night, in a restaurant in North Alabama, I met a group of Primitive Baptists. They were plenty nice, but once they found out I was a Southern Baptist pastor, it got strangely quiet.

I mean, the Lord gave us a brain and expects us to use it. Excuse me, I digress.)

In Acts 20, the Apostle Paul met with the elders (20:17) and overseers (20:28) of the Ephesian church. They are told to “shepherd” (pastor) the “church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” This is one of several scriptures that imply a multiplicity of pastors in the early church.

John MacArthur says, “In the NT, the words ‘bishop,’ ‘elder,’ ‘overseer,’ and ‘pastor’ are used interchangeably to describe the same men (Acts 20:17,28; Titus 1:5-9; I Peter 5:1,2).”

So, are staff members pastors of the church? In the larger sense, they are. They are extensions of the primary teaching/leading pastor. They are under his authority and their ministries extensions of his.

Show me a church with staff members not accountable to the lead pastor and I’ll show you a church asking for trouble. If there are exceptions, then please note that they are just that: exceptions.

In this and subsequent articles, I’d like to pursue the matter of pastors and their staffs. First, let’s consider what happens when a minister decides to seek out an addition to his ministerial staff. Even though the process can be wonderful and inspiring and can result in significant growth to the church, it is also perilous. Scary, even.

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