Pastoring, Productivity, and Priorities - by David Kaywood

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Almost all of this is practical advice, not biblical advice. Most of it is in the context of the traditional role of pastors as heads of the local church. 

However, the need for this advice would largely disappear if churches were lead by elders, which is the biblical model:

1Pe. 5:1-2 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve... 

In churches we typically see three types of leadership, the more common are first:

1. The church hires the pastor to do his ministry. 

This is probably viewed as being necessary in small churches because there might not be the people available to construct the biblical leadership structure. We would consider this to be a dodge, however. Even in a small church there are trustworthy people who can be matured into various leadership positions in a reasonably short amount of time.

Commonly the church board or elders hires the pastor to do all the things they don't want to do or don't think the can or should  do. Other than a few of the most dedicated people who do a few things like help in the nursery, serve as an usher, or play the piano, the pastor does most of the work. 

He's either a mere employee or a superhero. Perhaps both.

2. The people help the pastor do his ministry. 

This is the next level, and somewhat better than the "Hired Gun" illustrated in the first point. In this scenario, there are some, often many, people who eagerly jump in to serve in all the ministries of the church. Though the church benefits by the involvement of these people, the pastor is still the spiritual and administrative boss of the church, with the people serving his vision. It can be a positive environment and can be a healthy church, but it is still built around the pastor.

3. The pastor helps the people do their ministry. 

This approach is closer to the biblical model. The pastor is still the primary or singular leader, but he has an objective to equip and release the people to do the work of ministry that God has called them to do. The pastor is a coach and edifier, a discerner of the church's gifting and the peoples' abilities. The people are the spiritual heroes who build the church. The people aren't helping the pastor advance his vision, they are serving Jesus and advancing the shared kingdom vision of the church. In this model the potential for fruitfulness and growth is significantly higher.

Our opinion, which is the basis for this post, is that biblically speaking the pastor is not the CEO leader of the local church. We think a pastor ought to actually pastor, which might not even involve leadership.

The pastor who assumes his biblical role will be a person who cares for the flock. He's not the CEO, because the elders oversee the church. He's not the decision-maker, because he serves the elders or perhaps serves as one of the elders. He's not the Bible answer-man, although he may be insightful and studied. 

He loves the people, prays for them, and ministers to their needs. He's acutely aware of their well-being. He's not necessarily the preacher, because he has read Ep. 4:11-12:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up...

This passage mentions these gifts to the church as distinct, which means the pastor is not required to be the teacher. He might have more than one of these gifts, but not necessarily.

There are very few bench warmers in a healthy church with healthy leadership. This is the church as Jesus intended it. 

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Pastoring, Productivity, and Priorities

To ensure you succeed at the right things in ministry, you should identify your ministry priorities. The word “priority” comes from the Latin prior, meaning “first.” The narrowest description of pastoral priorities in Scripture is Acts 6:4: “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (This is what the apostles said about their ministry focus. Pastors are not apostles.)

To make this more concrete, however, as I write with adult teaching pastors in mind, (There is no such role in the Bible called "teaching pastors.")

I offer a suggestive list of pastoral priorities. This following list doesn’t mean these tasks are the only things to be done in ministry, but the most important ones. The point is not to get you to agree with the list, per se, but to challenge you to shape your schedule around biblical priorities.

1. Pursuing Holiness and Staying Qualified.

As a pastor, it’s easy to roll your eyes at something obvious, but too many pastors don’t have regular quiet time. Whereas before paid vocational ministry you often enjoyed an unhurried time of private Bible reading and prayer, now it seems your time with God in private is ignored or rushed. One of the biggest disciplines you must cultivate despite a brutal work schedule is the ability to linger in God’s presence. (Good advice for any Christian.)

Robert Murray M’Cheyne (1813-1843), an influential Scottish pastor of his time, offers these well-known words: “My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness.” M’Cheyne’s words are hard to believe — at least at first. We tend to think our people’s greatest needs are our leadership, our preaching, or our intelligence. But if your holiness is what your congregation needs the most from you, then pursuing holiness should be your top priority. (The congregation's greatest need is to be matured in Christ, not to be treated like helpless babies who rely on someone else's holiness.)

Or consider this quote. “Don’t let the pulpit drive you to the Word, let the Word drive you to the pulpit.”

Do you regularly enjoy unhurried Bible reading and prayer? Do you feel spiritually vibrant? Are you letting the Word drive you to the pulpit or does the pulpit drive you to the Word?

 
2. Preaching and Teaching the Bible.

Sunday sermons, Wednesday night teaching, or Christian Education class: preparing to preach and teach the Bible should receive your best energy. (Where in the Bible does it tell us pastors deliver sermons?)

In his helpful and often humorous book on church planting, Mike McKinley tells the story of leaving to plant/revitalize a church, only to ask Mark Dever for advice one last time: “Do everything you can do to preach excellent sermons. Everything else will fall into place.”

McKinley admits he wondered if Dever’s advice would work. But as the story goes, McKinley prioritized preaching the Word, and God did great work in his church. The point isn’t that your church will automatically grow if you preach well. The point is biblical preaching is an irreplaceable component of a healthy church — so you should prioritize it. (This is a nonsense statement, a tautology, because every component that makes a healthy church is a component of a healthy church.

The real question is, what does God value in a church?)

Let your elders know your conviction about the need to set time aside for sermon prep. Let them know before you get hired. (Yup, lay down the law. You're the one in charge and they need to know it.)

And guard your sermon preparation time with your life. (No mention of family, wife, or children.)

Words truly are inadequate to describe the utter necessity of biblical preaching for the health of a church. (How about some words to that effect from the Bible? Does the Bible place the preaching of the Word at the high level you do?)

If you find yourself unmotivated to preach or if you find yourself wandering off to Instagram during your preparation and don’t even know how you landed on the site, something is off in you and requires adjustment. (Or, maybe you shouldn't preach.)

 
3. Preparing the Order of Service.

Presbyterians love to quip they live by 1 Corinthians 14:40: “But all things should be done decently and in order.” But it shouldn’t just be Presbyterians. Every church leader should strive to lead and facilitate biblical, orderly, and edifying services. (Yes, church leaders should do this.)

This will vary, of course, depending on liturgical convictions, denominational background, cultural climate, and church size. But every pastor (Wait, wasn't it church leaders?)

must view the Order of Service (What is the Order of Service? We happen to know, but the author assumes everyone does.)

as a sacred stewardship. You’re deciding what words will be on people’s lips as they sing and what verses will be in their ears as you preach. (Where does the Bible tell us that the pastor has the sacred stewardship of the Order of Service?)

Take it seriously.

Putting together the Order of Service requires a lot of mental energy. It might look like:

• Having a worship service planning meeting.
• Having a worship service review meeting.
• Having the music team rehearse during the week.
• Going over the order of service with everyone involved on Sunday morning.
• Intentionally picking verses and songs that have a singular theme.

(It's very nearly astonishing at the level of control the author invests to pastors. It seems like he wants pastors to have their fingers in everything. 

This is, we believe, one of the reasons pastors so often fail. Rather than train up and release people into ministry, pastors are supposed to maintain a tight grip on everything, which means they expend "a lot of mental energy" doing things that other people can and ought to do.)

This shouldn’t be a quick email or text that you send off. You might use a tool like Planning Center, and ensure everyone involved in the service gets a copy early in the week. You may even consider planning an entire month of worship services — in one meeting. (Maybe the pastor should also empty the garbage, clean the bathrooms, and sweep the sidewalks just to ensure everything gets done properly.)

I like to keep The Pastor’s Book by my side as I prepare the service. Keep resources you regularly use to organize the order of service close by.

4. Leadership.

Leadership is influence. (Leadership is servanthood.)

It’s taking people from point A to point B. (It's showing people how they can get from point A to point B.)

It’s leading people somewhere, preferably forward. (It's leading people into maturity of faith so that they learn to engage their calling.)

It’s the ability to articulate a vision and execute the vision. (It's to embrace peoples' vision so they get equipped to execute their vision.)

It’s rooted in character. And it should always be done out of love.

Leadership is also hard. It’s difficult to paint a picture of a vision, of something that doesn’t exist, and then try to take people there. It’s especially hard to lead volunteers or people who’ve been at the church for 20 years before you showed up. In business, you can fire a paid employee. But with volunteers, it doesn’t work that way. So you have to communicate all-the-more effectively with volunteers, and that’s not easy. (The author seems to struggle with his own leadership.)

Although church leadership is hard, it is an absolute necessity. Because if you don’t lead, your church will slowly die. There’s no such thing as stabilization in ministry. You’re either growing or dying and the quality of leadership in your church often determines if you grow or die. Someone in the church has to lead and take initiative. Let it be you. (Really? Why? Does the author have no idea about what sorts of gifts, abilities, and talents are in his congregation? Does he understand that his real job as a leader is to facilitate his people to take the initiative?

If he really fancies himself a pastor, he should understand that Bible has a different goal than what he has articulated here. The Bible tells us:

Ep. 4:11-13 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ.

Leadership is to prepare people to serve and become mature. Leadership looks to train its replacement.)

A retired pastor (Actually, there's no such thing as a retired pastor.)

told me if he could go back into his ministry, he would have spent more time meeting with guys. So you also want to spend considerable energy not just leading the church, but doing leadership development and raising up other leaders. (Oh, there. He does understand. But does he really?)

5. General Shepherding.

A shepherd spends time with sheep. (Finally, the actual biblical pastorship.)

There is no substitute for time in the presence of your congregation to gain trust. Build relationship capital with your elders, deacons, staff, and leaders. And you need to exercise oversight over each member (Then immediately wanders away....)

(and delegate some of this work to other elders) (So the elders get assigned work by the pastor. The boss telling his underlings what to do. What a nightmare.)

— ensuring all sheep are fed, nourished and cared for.

Also, the priestly work: praying for the sick, hospital visitations, and counseling. Productivity-minded pastors tend to neglect this work or dread it. (Then they aren't pastors, biblically speaking.)

But if we are truly going to be shepherds and not just leaders, we must prioritize the priestly work of pastoral ministry.

 
Prioritizing Your Most Important Tasks

Some of you may say, What about discipleship? What about administration? What about evangelism? Are you saying those things are not important? Perish the thought. (Yes, indeed. Pile more duties on the pastor to ensure his failure.)

My list above is not exhaustive but is provided to encourage you to think about time management in the pastorate as prioritizing your most important tasks.

You don’t have to choose to fail at email like my seminary professor, but you must choose to prioritize what you will accomplish — and say “no” to or delegate everything else. (Only a person who has things he should delegate can delegate. That is, the expectations placed on him, or what he places on himself, are unbiblical. So it's not a matter of delegation, it's a matter of what a pastor is really supposed to be, and what he's really supposed to do.

Therefore, a pastor who does pastor things will not necessarily be the teacher, because teachers do this. A pastor will not be the evangelist, because evangelists do this. A pastor will not be the administrator, because administrators do this. 

Unless we want to continue to see pastors burn out and fail, we need to change to a biblical view of church leadership.)