It’s all about you!
In the pastor-driven church, it’s all about your gifts, your strengths, your abilities.
If something needs to get done, don’t bother asking a member to do it. They’ve said no a dozen times before. Why would they start pitching in now?
After all, that’s how you’re training them to act because they know you’ll always pick up the slack.
That’s what they pay you for right?
But that’s okay. It feels nice to be needed. So, you spend most of your time doing what a volunteer could do for free. That means you rarely have time for sermon prep, personal disciple-making, and vision casting.
The Pastor-Driven Church sacrifices bold preaching and personal disciple-making for powerless people-pleasing.
Reminder: “feeling nice” and pleasing people isn’t your calling. Sacrifice is.
Not the kind of sacrifice you’re currently modeling. The 24/7 on call schedule that takes you away from your family isn’t the sacrifice you were called to make. Trying to cater to every whim of every church member is a sacrifice you brought on your self.
Never confuse the sacrifice of Jesus with the kind of sacrifices you are currently making. Playing the martyr so that you can keep your job will probably end in you leaving the ministry anyway. Would you rather burn out from pleasing people or get fired for being a radical disciple-making disciple?
And you’re not a martyr. A martyr is someone who loses his or her life boldly defending the pure Truth of the Gospel. Vacuuming the floors every Saturday night because no one else will isn’t martyrdom it’s poor leadership.
And don’t call it servant leadership. You can’t invoke Jesus’ foot washing story here. Yes, Jesus was a servant of all but He’s also the greatest leader who ever lived.
If you want to be like Jesus, you need to serve but you also need to lead.
Washing feet works great with 12 during a teachable moment but what about when you have 24 or 240? Will you be able to wash all those feet yourself?
Jesus mobilized the 12 to “wash feet” and later they mobilized the 120 to do the same. Pretty soon there were 3,000+ and the point was they were ALL “washing feet”, praying, sharing the Gospel, and showing compassion.
No, you’re not being a servant, you’re an employee and everyone’s your boss. You’re not mobilizing people, you’re immobilizing them. You’re not leading, you’re caving.
Pastor, are you selling out to the Pastor-Driven Church?
Church Member, are you indolently taking advantage of the Pastor-Driven Church?
Pastor, if you are worried about stepping on some toes and maybe losing your job – if you are working for them and not for Him – there’s one thing I’d like to remind you:
It’s NOT about you!
