Advice to a Young Pastor

            My advice to a young pastor would be this “In the calling of leadership, people must take priority over paper and production.” [1] This emphasis is made in the first three chapters of The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make and rightly so. Paperwork can become a force-field that keeps pastors from fully engaging and caring for the people that they come across. Finzel states that an effective leader does not view people as an interruption but as an opportunity “…effective leaders make room for people. Leaving them out is a big, big mistake.” [2] An opportunity to do what? An opportunity to do what a pastor is supposed to do, take care of the flock that God has given him. The Pastor and his staff are not a separate entity from the body of Christ. Everyone needs the love and guidance of Christ and compassion and empathy of fellow Christians to help the church mature. This can be achieved partially and effectively through deliberate and personal acts of affirmation. “Encouraging words give people the fuel to go on even in the most intense environments. Show love to your workers and they will follow you anywhere!” [3] According to Finzel this can be done by listening, empathizing, comforting, carrying burdens and encouraging one another both in and outside of work. [4]

            The question remains, how does one balance building and maintaining relationships and the tasks that need to be finished in a timely and excellent manner? The answer is simple if you live by the advice given in the previous paragraph. The people around you will understand and be sympathetic and maybe even helpful if you build meaningful relationships with your church and coworkers and couple this with regular staff meetings, retreats and open and honest communication, [5] you will be able to sit down with your team and delegate the work at hand without sacrificing the people for the paperwork. Every step of this process involves relationship building. A focus on the people around you first and the work in front of you second should be paramount. It should be understood that “Developing good staff relationships should be of primary concern…” [6] This is not merely a bogus exercise but a biblical one.

^“So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸ Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” ^[7]

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[1] Finzel, Hans, The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007), 55.

[2] Ibid, 54.

[3] Ibid, 70.

[4] Ibid, 68.

[5] Powers, Bruce, Church Administration Handbook, (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2008), 284

[6] Ibid, 277.

^[7] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), 1 Co 3:7–9.