Mike Rutledge.CA

A few post ago, I shared some things that I have been learning about being a pastor at a young age. What I didn’t say then was that there are more than just 5 things to know, obviously. So this is part 2. I want to share 5 more things that are important for young leaders to know and that people, like me, are needing to work on constantly! So…

Dear Young Pastor,

1. Find a Dear Old Lady, And Let Her Pray

This is just some practical advice I received from some pastors who are further along than I am when I was visiting their church, C4 in Ajax. It is just one of those truths about churches that in almost every single one, there is an older lady, who is what we call ‘a prayer warrior’. Find her in your church, dedicate some time out of your week to pray with her and have her pray for you, your family, your sanity, etc. I went and found her in my church, and every week this lady challenges me with her life. She literally prays all day, every day. Constantly. She tells me all the time the ways she prays for me, and it has really been a blessing for me, and I know it will be for you as well. It is even just encouraging to know that someone is actually praying for you, sometimes in ministry you will forget that people are on your side and that you aren’t alone, this is way to remind you that those people are there.

2. In Preaching, you are a doctor not a chef.

We live in a day of constant tension for preachers. The tension one direction is to be simply doctrinal, to really get into what has been labeled the ‘deep’ things of the faith and teach the people the things they should know. The tension in the other direction is to be extremely practical, giving people simple insights from God’s word to help their lives improve. As a young pastor you are going to be living right in the middle of that tension, I do. All the time! Feeling swayed one way or the other (though I whole heartedly believe that the best preaching will have a fullest good of both sides, there really doesn’t need to be a tension at all, but that’s another blog post). The point I want to make to make to you today is that you need to see yourself as doctor, not as a chef. When you are preaching, no matter the side you tend to lean too, your job is not to present a nicely plated, pleasantly tasting dish for all the people to come and enjoy. That is not to say there won’t be times where you need to be really encouragement focused, or give a light hearted sermon, but ultiamtely, you are doctor. Your job is to honestly say what the diagnosis is, and from there present the cure. Simply put, good advice is worth nothing without the good news. You will be tempted to be a chef, a giver of pleasantries and feel goods, because everyone will love you for it. Heck, every pastor wants to be liked, to be successful in their craft, I know I do. And it’s so much easier to give life advice. But fight the temptation to give only that. People need advice, and so you do need to offer the biblical wisdom in a tasteful way, but always remember what you are called to be first, a doctor. Put Christ and His cross at the center of it all!

3. Young Pastor, go read, and re read, and re re read Hebrews 11

I know what some of you might be thinking. ‘I love that chapter! All those great heroes of faith!’ Which is well and good. But you see the problem is we often don’t read the full chapter. I have to be honest and vulnerable here. I am constantly having to battle the pride that this chapter should destroy in leaders. This is what I mean, the author writes, “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated…” (11:35-37) Right after all the glory stories of the heroes of the faith, the author of Hebrews says these few words, and shows us that faith-filled, faithful, holy servants didn’t receive the earthly glory that most of us are ‘promised’ when they served God. It’s woven into our North American Christianity that faithfulness to God equals success, especially in ministry today. We told as young budding leaders that “there are great things ahead!”, and “God is going to use you mightily!”. Which is hopefully true, but in the age of the mega-church, we often assume that these ‘great things’ are the great successes of huge churches, book deals, and conference appearances and not mocking’s, floggings, and death. These few verses in Hebrews destroy that soundly. Some faithful, called, and anointed people ended their service tortured, sawn in two, afflicted, destitute, hated, because they were faithful to God! Success in the eyes of God is different than in yours and mine. This isn’t to say that some of you won’t have the pleasures of a great pastoral ministry, gain influence of national leaders, write a few books, in fact I hope that you do that, but I know that I had to kill the pride in me that said I deserved that.

What if God was calling you to preach a church into the ground, because the gospel was convicting the religious right out of it? What if being a faithful minister means no one ever knows my name and I end up destitute? What if persecution is my end as I follow Christ? Are you following this call of God to be a pastor for what it can bring to you? Ministry isn’t always glamorous. What if the call of God is unto death for you? Will you be so energetic then? My friends, such a small percentage of churches that exist are these huge ‘successful’ churches. I hate to burst your and my bubble. But are we ok with serving those the Lord does bring to us? Even if its just 100? It would be a good thing for you to search your heart for the answer. Why are you faithful? Why do you feel called? Will you preach the same to 10 as to 1000? Is your faithfulness unto death? Honestly, some days its easier for me to answer that than others. I am still working through the pride the grips my heart. Some Sundays as I preach I couldn’t careless how many people are there, I am simply honored to preach, and other Sundays I am crushed under the weight of not having as many people there as I thought. Ministry isn’t about you, your fame, your name, your books, your church, your anything, it’s all about His life, His glory, and His name.

4. Learn how to say “Thank You”

A great gift as a pastor to grow in is the gift of appreciation! Seriously. One the greatest gifts a pastor needs on a day to day level is the ability to stop and say thank you! Admittedly, this is an area where I fail miserably. And it’s not that I am not appreciative, or that I think my leaders are doing really great things, I just don’t always express it to them. I wrongly assume they know how I feel, because clearly, everyone who works in a church just knows the pastor is thankful, common knowledge right?! Wrong. The temptation is to only speak when something goes bad. This is a terrible strategy/habit to employ. If your leaders only hear from you in the bad times, you will not be a credible leader to them. You will be an annoying jerk. Go out of your way to make sure people know that you appreciate them, that they are valuable to you, they won’t assume those things, so don’t assume that they assume them! Write an email, pick up the phone, drop by, whatever the method make sure you say it to them! It goes a long way and I wish I was far better at it than I am. Make it a habit to say thank you, even if it starts off as forced, make it a habit. Learn to verbally appreciate the people that help you lead. You couldn’t do what you are doing without them after all. You aren’t that special.

5. Real Friendship

Young Pastor, you need friends. You need people who are more than partners in ministry. You need friends who know you deeply. Who see through your façade, who will call out your sin. You need friends you can relax with and take the pastor mask off with. You will be tempted to remain in the role of pastor in all your relationships. You help people after all, you give wisdom, you love doing it! You should, its what you are called to do! But you also need to take that mask off and be real with people. You need friends around with whom your imperfections are blatant. You need friends with whom you can actually just breathe with, not having to be impressive all the time. Again, this an area where I tend to lack. I help people, I counsel people, I take people for coffee, I share my ‘vast’ wisdom, I mentor, I am the one in authority and I am also not the first guy you call when you just want to have some fun because of those things. Sometimes pastors are way to uptight and fun sucking, not fun producing. Don’t be that guy. Learn how to have deep, genuine, equal friendships. It may not seem vital to you now, but it will be soon. Ministry gets lonely.

You will also be tempted to view people in practical ways, usually as ‘those who help my ministry’ and ‘those who will not help my ministry’. You will begin to notice this more when people in the first category move to the second and all the sudden these great ‘friends’ you had, you never talk to anymore. Why? Because in your pride you used them, now they have no more use to you and so you moved on. And you’re a jerk because of it. I have done it, and I was jerk for doing it. You need to value people, not for what they can bring to your ministry, but because they are simply friends.

Bonus: Honor your spouse! You are going to get more tempted to assume stupid things like ‘the lord will take care of us because I’m a pastor’, that’s idiotic. The Lord gave your spouse to you to love and honor. It’s your job to do that.

Young pastor, as I said in my first post, I am really excited for your future in ministry, but ministry is more than knowing how to preach some message. Ministry isn’t easy, it’s always emotionally, spiritually, relationally taxing. You will need support, and there are prayer warriors in your church you need to utilize. Young Pastor, there is no more relevant, useful message than that of Christ’s triumph over sin. Let that be the message your people here the most. Young pastor, can I apologize for all the lazy promises of success you were fed in college, by well meaning, but deceived people? Following Jesus as a pastor isn’t always awesome. You might be one of the ones called like those in the second list of Hebrews 11 not the famous first list. I pray that your heart will be so surrendered to His glory, that no matter the path He leads you will walk in it wholeheartedly. Young pastor, love your leaders enough to say thank you. Don’t assume anything. Speak! And find good friends, who will love you, and don’t use them, honor them. Don’t see people as commodities, but as PEOPLE!

I’ll be praying for you.