The formation of the next generation of pastors is essential for every generation that wants healthy churches to continue in the future. This training usually begins with young people in a congregation, usually in university age, who have shown character and gifts that would qualify them. pastoral care. It is essential to encourage these young people, because there are also precious aspects that I have seen and addressed preparing them for the future and taking care of their souls.
Here are some trends I’ve seen among young men who want to be shepherds:
1. Exaggerated rush
Due to the explosion of the church movement within Christian culture, young people often end up without having to take the paths taken by past generations. The old notion that you have to prove what you are capable of is now foreign to a 22-year-old. Elder who graduated from college a month ago and now believes he is ready to be a church planter and senior pastor. The rise in online seminary classes more quickly exposes people to formal theological education without even having any church leadership experience. preaching immediately rather than sitting at the feet of a preacher, as an apprentice has developed an attitude of impatience, responsibility, and conviction that such an individual knows more and does better than the current local church leader.
The truth is that running a local church as a leader is quite different from sitting for a while to theorize how a church should actually work. Preaching a sermon and receiving positive feedback from a proud and encouraging group of friends and family is quite different from preparing a message each week, regardless of the circumstances of your life. These young men have never led a ministry in a church, but they still believe they are ready to take the first chair. This would equate to Ferroviio Atlético’s assistant coach. Clube thinks he’s ready to be the head coach of Barcelona. For some reason, the local church is the only place where people really have the courage to think they can already lead at this highest level without any experience.
How do you guide a young man who thinks he’s ready to take on that level of responsibility and leadership before he has another real-life experience?I think he starts by teaching the youth under his direction to listen carefully to the whispers around him afterwards. your preaching. Yes, cheer up. However, an older person in a congregation will generally be very excited and positive with anyone younger who has had the opportunity to speak. That’s not to say he’s the next John Piper and he’s ready to provide the presidency every week. .
Let a young leader be around you as a pastor, observing the things he does, the choices he makes, the people he knows, and the hours he has to invest effectively in the ministry. It’s much bigger than an Internet sermon or a theological debate. Don’t be afraid to tell someone you need to slow down your life a little, sit under your teachings for a while, and lead church ministries without occupying the first chair. It is also useful to design a training plan for your young leader, demonstrating your commitment to its development.
2. Excessive exposure to Christian industry and subculture
This can be problematic because it allows people to be seduced by Christian celebrities. Young children often imitate preachers exposed to them and are more prepared for the task than is happening in a church five states away than in a church in their own city. This has become very complicated in an accessible world where we are now subject to instant online access.
A particular local church elsewhere in the country becomes a kind of utopia for church leaders because they don’t realize that the same problems and conflicts that someone sees in their own church are also happening in this extraordinary church. Ministerial greed begins to occur, and greed seeps out and becomes a lack of appreciation for the local church itself. Just as someone looks at a friend’s Instagram and, seeing only the outside appearance of photos, wants the same life, someone who aspires to pastoral care and is too exposed to Christian culture can be dangerous. . These young people are very vulnerable to the “greener grass of the neighbor” mentality, which often results in reduced service conditions.
To train through this reality, the pastor must be honest about real life. This famous church didn’t explode overnight. Sweat, tears, prayer, fasting, hard work, and most importantly, God’s work was shed in every church that reached the structure you are now experiencing. I inform our young people that none of their lost friends in our city have listened to their favorite Internet preacher, nor did they care about the last book that just came out, or the one he spoke at the last conference. I ask you more about non-Christians with those who spend time together than about the last book they read. I want to prepare you to become local missionaries more than I want you to learn about “popular” Christianity.
3. Unrealistic expectations
Once again, this shallow world creates problems for future shepherds who are waiting their turn. Most church settlements never grow in more than 100 people, but this does not indicate whether the church has succeeded or not. Nobody wants to talk about how growth happens. In many churches it is considered successful and attracts the attention of many young people. Growing a church to reach the lost in your city is a process. It can take a lifetime to see the results of the job. I feel sorry for someone naive enough to think that he will open a church tomorrow and become the pastor of a mega church overnight, or something like that.
During training, I believe that we should ask ourselves regular questions about hearts and motivations, without any reluctance to do so, because expectations must be maintained without the discouragement of vision and ambition. I want to see excited young people and dream big dreams. local churches in their churches, but we prepare young people for discouragement if we allow them to operate through false realities based on the successes of their favorite Internet preacher.
I am in awe of the current ecclesial movement and the opportunities it offers young pastors, because I am an example of someone who did not have to wait his turn or give proof of what he was capable of. I was ready for this kind of responsibility or leadership pressure, but I saw God’s grace in my life and in my church despite my inexperience, shortcomings, and shortcomings. I hope that in the name of caring for souls and planting healthy churches, we will train young people and ambitious people to prepare them for ministry rather than just an internship. We no longer need celebrities, we need healthy churches.
By: Dean Inserra. © 2015 My name? Original: WHEN YOU TRAIN MEN IN THE MINISTRY, YOU HAVE TO BE AWARE OF THESE DANGERS
Translation: Paulo Santos Repetition: Yago Martins. © 2016 Faithful Ministérium. All rights reserved. Website: MinistryFiel. com. br. Original: 3 dangers in the formation of future shepherds.
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