Trusting Your Pastor Pt. 2
Yesterday I talked about how you can trust - or build trust - with your pastor (See Part 1 here). I want to reiterate that I understand there are people out there who have been wounded by their pastor. I am not saying that one should blindly trust their pastor if their pastor has a track record of hurting people. However, if that track record doesn't exist, to not trust your pastor simply because you've been wounded, or you're afraid of being wounded, is not an option. I've got a post ready to go for tomorrow on that, but I wanted to get this one up today... and proof that post before I put it up tomorrow.
So, assuming that you truly want to show your pastor that you trust him, and you want to act on that trust, how can you do so. Yesterday I talked about pursuing relationship with him in order to not only show that you trust (and therefore care) about him, but also to build on that trust (and allow him to learn to trust you - another important issue, especially between elders and pastors, sr. pastors and those under them, or denominational leadership and the pastors under them). I also mentioned the importance of not entertaining accusations against your pastor w/o first asking questions of your pastor rather than attacking him.
A third way that you can trust your pastor is to let him lead. I briefly touched on this yesterday, but the reader may have missed it (I had to check and find it). This is, by far, a harder one, and one full of land mines, but an important one, none-the-less. Let us assume, for the moment, that everybody has prayed about bringing the pastor on board, and the decision was made to do so because it's believed this is God's will for the church. Let's also assume that the issue at hand isn't a sin issue or a theological one (e.g. he wants to start preaching universalism), but simply a philosophical issue. The pastor has been praying about something - the direction of the church, whether to keep a certain ministry in the church, or whether to start a new ministry - and has made a decision. Unfortunately, the decision he's made is one that many (or just a few) in the congregation don't like, some even for logical reasons beyond their emotional problems with change (which a vast majority of us have, btw). There are two choices I see (though I'm open to other suggestions). You could openly reject the proposal, which could lead to a variety of results, such as leaving the church, firing the pastor, or simply the leadership telling the pastor they won't let him do that. The other option is to trust your pastor and God - Trust God that He's speaking to your pastor; Trust your pastor that he's truly seeking God on this issue, and has heard from Him (many times I've seen and experienced that "logical" reasons for not wanting change have nothing to do with my hearing from God, and everything to do with my own issues); Trust God that, if this isn't from Him, that He will speak clearly to your pastor and let him know. Based on the tone of this post, you can probably guess the choice I believe the reader should choose (check the first two assumptions again, of course): Trust God and your pastor.
As I stated, there are some pitfalls with this choice, but there are pitfalls with choosing the other, too, not the least of which the church loses out on what God wants to do simply because people aren't willing to follow the leader God's put over them. The exact opposite is the obvious pitfall of trusting your pastor when everybody else on the leadership team is saying he's wrong - you might still miss God working. Still, from what I read in scripture, and what I've seen, read, and experienced, I'm convinced that the second choice is by far the best and most Biblical.
And, lest any reader think I'm biased because I'm a pastor, please remember that I've only been a pastor in a church since 2006. Before then I pastored students in a para-church, and simply served in churches. The year before Michael was old enough to take part in our church's mid-week children's ministry, our pastor (and the elders) believed that God led them to shut down the ministry, with no plans for a similar replacement (though they did have plans - don't get me wrong - just nothing similar or traditional). Many in the church were devastated (an understatement for some), including the leaders of the ministry. Shari and I were highly disappointed for Michael. We could have got up in arms, left the church, become bitter, etc. Instead, we trusted God and prayed with and for our leadership, that God would give them wisdom to know how to care for children. I'm not sure how the leadership feels about that decision several years down the road, but I'd do everything the same way again if given the chance, because I trusted the leaders then, and I trust them now to hear from God.
Trust your pastors. They may not have a hotline to God, but they are seeking His face a persistently and genuinely as possible, and truly are endeavoring to hear from Him. Trust them even when their philosophy doesn't agree with yours on how to do things. You may just discover that (GASP!) they were right and you were wrong. It happens.
NOTE: This isn't the end-all to this discussion. I suspect that many of you have other arguments for trust, and even more of you have reasons not to trust your pastors. There are also some valid concerns regarding making sure that there are safeguards to protect both the church and the pastor from poor choices. These are simply my thoughts regarding trusting your pastor in general, based on a question posed to me Tuesday in a conversation regarding - in part - this trust issue. Feel free to leave your comments, though I probably won't have time to develop a discussion about it via this blog. Or, if you know me, feel free to call or visit. I'd love to discuss it more.
So, assuming that you truly want to show your pastor that you trust him, and you want to act on that trust, how can you do so. Yesterday I talked about pursuing relationship with him in order to not only show that you trust (and therefore care) about him, but also to build on that trust (and allow him to learn to trust you - another important issue, especially between elders and pastors, sr. pastors and those under them, or denominational leadership and the pastors under them). I also mentioned the importance of not entertaining accusations against your pastor w/o first asking questions of your pastor rather than attacking him.
A third way that you can trust your pastor is to let him lead. I briefly touched on this yesterday, but the reader may have missed it (I had to check and find it). This is, by far, a harder one, and one full of land mines, but an important one, none-the-less. Let us assume, for the moment, that everybody has prayed about bringing the pastor on board, and the decision was made to do so because it's believed this is God's will for the church. Let's also assume that the issue at hand isn't a sin issue or a theological one (e.g. he wants to start preaching universalism), but simply a philosophical issue. The pastor has been praying about something - the direction of the church, whether to keep a certain ministry in the church, or whether to start a new ministry - and has made a decision. Unfortunately, the decision he's made is one that many (or just a few) in the congregation don't like, some even for logical reasons beyond their emotional problems with change (which a vast majority of us have, btw). There are two choices I see (though I'm open to other suggestions). You could openly reject the proposal, which could lead to a variety of results, such as leaving the church, firing the pastor, or simply the leadership telling the pastor they won't let him do that. The other option is to trust your pastor and God - Trust God that He's speaking to your pastor; Trust your pastor that he's truly seeking God on this issue, and has heard from Him (many times I've seen and experienced that "logical" reasons for not wanting change have nothing to do with my hearing from God, and everything to do with my own issues); Trust God that, if this isn't from Him, that He will speak clearly to your pastor and let him know. Based on the tone of this post, you can probably guess the choice I believe the reader should choose (check the first two assumptions again, of course): Trust God and your pastor.
As I stated, there are some pitfalls with this choice, but there are pitfalls with choosing the other, too, not the least of which the church loses out on what God wants to do simply because people aren't willing to follow the leader God's put over them. The exact opposite is the obvious pitfall of trusting your pastor when everybody else on the leadership team is saying he's wrong - you might still miss God working. Still, from what I read in scripture, and what I've seen, read, and experienced, I'm convinced that the second choice is by far the best and most Biblical.
And, lest any reader think I'm biased because I'm a pastor, please remember that I've only been a pastor in a church since 2006. Before then I pastored students in a para-church, and simply served in churches. The year before Michael was old enough to take part in our church's mid-week children's ministry, our pastor (and the elders) believed that God led them to shut down the ministry, with no plans for a similar replacement (though they did have plans - don't get me wrong - just nothing similar or traditional). Many in the church were devastated (an understatement for some), including the leaders of the ministry. Shari and I were highly disappointed for Michael. We could have got up in arms, left the church, become bitter, etc. Instead, we trusted God and prayed with and for our leadership, that God would give them wisdom to know how to care for children. I'm not sure how the leadership feels about that decision several years down the road, but I'd do everything the same way again if given the chance, because I trusted the leaders then, and I trust them now to hear from God.
Trust your pastors. They may not have a hotline to God, but they are seeking His face a persistently and genuinely as possible, and truly are endeavoring to hear from Him. Trust them even when their philosophy doesn't agree with yours on how to do things. You may just discover that (GASP!) they were right and you were wrong. It happens.
NOTE: This isn't the end-all to this discussion. I suspect that many of you have other arguments for trust, and even more of you have reasons not to trust your pastors. There are also some valid concerns regarding making sure that there are safeguards to protect both the church and the pastor from poor choices. These are simply my thoughts regarding trusting your pastor in general, based on a question posed to me Tuesday in a conversation regarding - in part - this trust issue. Feel free to leave your comments, though I probably won't have time to develop a discussion about it via this blog. Or, if you know me, feel free to call or visit. I'd love to discuss it more.
Labels: Church, Leadership, Theology, Youth Ministry
posted by Pastor Paul at
10:11 AM
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