{"id":19838,"date":"2020-04-01T08:02:55","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T13:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=19838"},"modified":"2020-04-01T08:06:11","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T13:06:11","slug":"when-the-pastor-feels-like-a-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/when-the-pastor-feels-like-a-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"When the pastor feels like a failure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cFor not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends\u201d (2 Corinthians 10:18).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDid I fail?\u201d<\/p>\n

Every man or woman who ministers in the Kingdom of God is immediately struck by two great realities:\u00a0 The perfection of God<\/em> (and thus the desire to present to Him worthy offerings of worship and service) and the imperfection of mankind<\/em> (meaning anything we offer Him will be flawed, even at its best).<\/p>\n

As a result, we are often tormented with feelings of inadequacy and hounded by the knowledge that our efforts have not been enough, our devotion has been too weak, and our ministries a far cry from what we had hoped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those words and that feeling are voiced not just by those who literally are failures. Some of the (outwardly) most successful pastors and spiritual leaders on the planet deal with the same sense of futility.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013We leave church on Sunday knowing that the sermon we delivered was nowhere near as wonderful as the one we received from the Lord in our study. What happened between the study and the pulpit?<\/p>\n

\u2013The vision we had for our church soon ran into the reality of a thousand foes: our own self-doubt, the skepticism of certain members, the honest inquiry of our friends and supporters, and the ongoing needs of the congregation.\u00a0 This project started out to be far better than it turned out. What happened?<\/p>\n

We were laboring, planting seed and cultivating, and expecting our efforts to produce a banner crop.\u00a0 When little fruit appeared, we naturally felt that we have been the reason.<\/p>\n

We have failed.<\/p>\n

Here is our best counsel to the hard-working laborers in the Lord\u2019s field who find the reality at weighing-in time to be less than they ever envisioned when they headed into the field at the beginning of the day\u2026.<\/p>\n

1) \u201cYou have been in the ministry long enough to know you can do everything by the book, but there are still a hundred and one other factors that influence the result.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether you are Billy Graham, Corrie ten Boom, or named Joe, we all live by one overriding reality:\u00a0 We do our best and leave the rest with the Lord.<\/p>\n

2) \u201cYou have been faithful. Nothing more is required.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMoreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy\u201d (I Corinthians 4:2).\u00a0 “Let her alone,” said our Lord, “she hath done what she could” (Mark 14:8). He asks nothing more.<\/p>\n

3) \u201cSome seeds take years to produce. Continue waiting before the Lord and see what He\u2019s up to.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBe not weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap\u2013if we don\u2019t quit!\u201d (Galatians 6:9).<\/p>\n

“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand. For thou knowest not which shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they shall both alike be good” (Ecclesiastes 11:6).\u00a0 I love this.\u00a0 Do not judge the soil, just sow the seed.\u00a0 Do not wait until all the conditions are right; just go to it.<\/p>\n

4) You are not your own judge.<\/em><\/p>\n

As Paul said (in our text above), even if you give yourself a passing grade, it\u2019s meaningless.\u00a0 The \u201cGrader\u201d is the Lord and no one else. \u201cTo his own master (a servant) stands or falls\u201d (Romans 14:4).<\/p>\n

It would be comical if it were not so sad the way God\u2019s preachers rush about seeking approval from one another.\u00a0 Some have started colleges in order to award their friends honorary doctorates with the expectation that the favor would be reciprocated. (I tell pastor search teams not to be overly impressed by the doctorates preachers are wearing these days. There is a glut on the market.)<\/p>\n

I was a young pastor and serving as a trustee of one of our denomination\u2019s agencies. Meanwhile, my family and my church were needing more from me than I was giving. \u00a0 One day something occurred to me. When a pastor dies, no one cares what boards he served on and what honors he received.\u00a0 Two things will matter most: the love of\u00a0 his family and the impact he had through the churches he served. (So, I resigned from that board in order to stay at home more.)<\/i><\/p>\n

A few years later, I sat in the sanctuary of a large church for a funeral of a man who had pastored for many years and then moved on to denominational positions. As someone recited the many boards and agencies, committees and commissions, the gentleman had served on, I glanced around.\u00a0 Everyone looked bored. No one seemed to care.\u00a0 Now, I\u2019m a big boy, and I know a) someone had to lead these offices and oversee these ministries, and b) we do them for the Lord and not for public acclaim.\u00a0 But it confirmed to me that what matters most to a father and a pastor is the primary assignment the Lord hands him. For me, that was leading my family and my church.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Let the pastors be faithful where God has put them. Paul told Timothy, \u201cFulfill your ministry\u201d (2 Timothy 4:5).<\/p>\n

I suspect some pastors spend too much time on the golf course, reading novels, working on their farms, pursuing their favorite hobby, watching television, playing on the computer, leading groups to the Holy Land, or a thousand other diversions that may not be bad in themselves in moderation, but which sap their energies and dull their brains and interfere with the work God gave them to do.<\/p>\n

Let the pastor repent.<\/p>\n

Let the pastor wise up.<\/p>\n

Let the pastor pull aside with the Lord for a time of confession, cleansing, and redirection.\u00a0 Let the pastor pray to be reassigned to the Lord\u2019s original calling. Then, let the Lord’s servant get up and go to work.<\/p>\n

Keep telling yourself, pastor, that you are \u201cmore than a conqueror through Him who loved us.\u201d\u00a0 You can get this right.<\/p>\n

One final thing.<\/strong>\u00a0 Guard against the perfectionistic ideal which keeps insisting that nothing you do is acceptable since it is less than perfect. That lofty standard, which appears so noble on the surface, is your worst enemy.<\/p>\n

Keep Psalm 103:14 before you. He Himself knows our frame. He is mindful that we are but dust.\u00a0<\/em> God is under no illusions about you and me.\u00a0 Were He expecting perfection from any of us, He would have given up in disgust a long time ago.\u00a0 He knows He got no bargain when He saved us. When we sin, the only one surprised is us.\u00a0 He is a God of infinite grace.\u00a0 Aren’t we glad?<\/p>\n

Every day of your life, give thanks for the privilege of serving such a gracious, loving Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFor not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends\u201d (2 Corinthians 10:18). \u201cDid I fail?\u201d Every man or woman who ministers in the Kingdom of God is immediately struck by two great realities:\u00a0 The perfection of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abiding-in-christ","category-pastors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19838"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19988,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19838\/revisions\/19988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}