Pastoral Leadership

“The first is that we’ve backed away from a biblical definition of a leader—humble, gentle, kind, faithful, loving, servant. The kind of character qualities that are in the Timothy passage when it talks about qualifications for elder” - Paul David Trip

“Yes, there has always been the reality of churches mixing in too much politics, but this is different. It’s not necessarily about the pastor being too political, as would be the common claim before our current political climate. Today’s criticism is more focused on what the pastor is not. This usually takes form in two different outrages…” - F&T

“I (Matt Smethurst) recently read Jonathan Leeman and Andy Naselli’s helpful new booklet, How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics? (Crossway, 2020). It’s an ideal resource for church leaders to recommend and give away to their congregations during a contentious election season. The following 20 quotes caught my attention.” - TGC

“It’s too early to know exactly how vaccinations are going to play out in the church, but I don’t think you have to be an inveterate skeptic to imagine it’s more likely to bring division than unity.

“More than a week after at least 51 members of Calvary Chapel of San Antonio in Texas got infected with COVID-19 since the congregation started meeting in person, the church’s pastor says he takes full responsibility. … adding, ‘We kept all of the rules to the letter of the law.’” - CPost

“If we’re going to help our people, we pastors must cultivate humility. We need to grow in our Christlikeness to help others do the same. So how do we do it? Here are a few ways to cultivate humility in ministry.” - 9 Marks

“We must not misunderstand the injunction against being quarrelsome. Clearly, by both precept and example, Paul did not envision the ideal pastor as a nice, soft, somewhat passive, universally liked, vaguely spiritual chaplain.

“Left unguarded, feelings of uselessness can easily replace the busy schedule that used to typify each week. A loss of identity can also result if once-filled hours aren’t replaced by other significant investments. As the Lord redirects my focus toward fresh avenues of service, I often rehearse several prompts to help clarify my ministry objectives.” - TGC

“Rhyne Putman’s new book, When Doctrine Divides the People of God, surprisingly helps us answer why fellow pastors might disagree about [shepherding] matters. I say “surprisingly” because the book analyzes doctrinal disagreements, not disagreements over matters of shepherding.” - Andy Naselli

“In these moments, we would do well to remember the words of James 1:19 when he calls Christians to ‘Be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.’” - F&T