Outgrowing the Pastor

 

By:  Dale Weckbacher

 

Text:  Acts 6:1-7

 

Acts 6:1

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists^[a] arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 

(ESV)

 

The Lord's “Great Commission” to the Church (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20) to take the Gospel around the world means the Lord intends for the church to grow.  However, the pastor of the Church is still human and must be aware of when the Church has outgrown his or her ability to do every task in the church.  While the disciples did not hesitate in delegating the care of the Hellenist widows to other disciples in the Church, some pastors may hesitate to let go of duties in the Church, placing the future growth of the Church in jeopardy.  Pastors in the Church must guard against,

 

1)      Pride (Proverbs 16:18) – As a Church grows, a pastor must guard against beginning to believe the growth of the Church is due to their great oratory skills, great programs, or entertaining music.  What is most dangerous about engaging in this type of pride is it relegates God to the second place, elevating the pastor to a prominent position.  To guard against this destructive pride, a pastor must devote themselves to prayer and ministry of the Word and delegate other aspects of the ministry to volunteers and staff like the disciples did with ministering to the Hellenistic widows. 

2)      Excessive busyness leading to loss of focus (Philippians 3:14) – It is not how hard one works in ministry that counts but how much the ministry lifts up Christ (John 3:13-15).  John 3:13-15 is the preamble to the most memorized verse in the Bible, John 3:16.  As the Church grows, there will be many more pressing issues than were there when the Church was small and could fit in someone’s living room.  These pressing issues can become distractions taking the pastors focus off prayer and ministry of the word and on to managing issues, church facilities, and church programs.  Both the disciples and Moses experienced a Jethro moment where they were trying to do it all only to have the people suffer (Exodus 18:18; Acts 6:1-7).  Pastors of growing churches will experience a Jethro moment and hopefully will delegate aspects of ministry to people of faith in the church who are full of the Holy Spirit.

3)      Weariness in ministry (Galatians 6:9) – An outsider looking into a Church service might believe the Pastor has an easy job, only seeing the finished work of a sermon lasting 30 to 45 minutes.  While the Sunday sermon is an important aspect of ministry, there are usually hours of study and prayer during the week in preparation for the sermon.  If a pastor also becomes excessively busy with the day-to-day affairs of the Church, he or she can become weary doing good (Galatians 6:9).  Instead of becoming weary doing good works, pastors must devote themselves to prayer and study of God’s Word and delegate the operational affairs of the Church to others.

 

Romans 12:4-5 reminds us that the Church functions as a body with many diverse members having different functions.  However, when this body unifies with the goal of lifting up Christ, it has the potential to impact the world and bring about positive and eternal change (Acts 17:6).  Eternal and positive change in the world will not occur through government programs, technological inventions, or new economic systems for these are things made by flawed people.  Through focusing on lifting up Christ and pointing people to Him, the Church has an opportunity to facilitate lasting and eternal change, not through its programs or elaborate facilities but by lifting up Christ and pointing people to the cross.

 

I want to take this opportunity to invite anyone reading this who has not made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior to do so by praying with me now,

 

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

 

This is the first step in bringing about eternal and lasting change in your life for according to John 3:16, you now have a new future of eternal life with Jesus Christ.  I challenge those that just prayed to lift up Christ by sharing this post with others so they too can experience salvation and eternal life with Christ.  I also encourage you to let your Christian friends and family members, who have been praying for you, know about your profession of faith.  May God bless everyone reading this post.