This is good advice for pastors but it is also a stern warning to be heeded by church officers and members.
If your church is successful, in terms of contemporary business and marketing models, it may be headed for a fall. Remember, God is sovereign over His church. His idea of success is not man's idea of success. He builds His church and He does not share His glory with anyone.
"If you live by the numbers then you will die by the numbers. When a pastor craves numeric success he will inevitably love what people represent far more than he loves the people. This is a tricky issue for pastors. Lack of numeric growth tends to be viewed as a failure of the pastor. What is more, the pastor’s employers (the congregation) want to see their church grow. Certainly it is a noble desire to reach many for the gospel. But our hearts are deceptive. When pastors enjoy numeric success we are susceptible to pride, self-sufficiency, and a sense of entitlement. That is, we expect to be compensated handsomely for engineering the church’s success. But God’s people are not grist for the mill of the pastor’s personal quest for success." Todd Pruitt
Excerpted from: Seven Lessons Pastors Can Learn From The Mark Driscoll-Mars Hill Fallout
No comments:
Post a Comment