The scholars point out that the ideal in the pastor-church relationship is for ministers to remain in the same field for long periods of time and that churches value their pastor. [1] Veteran shepherds can contribute to the stability of ecclesiastical dynamics, as well as strengthen the relationship between the chief and the herd, as well as allowing the pastor to participate actively in society, but this is not always the case. Some shepherds are? Ephemeral? In the pastorate of the churches they pass through. Some of them seem to have weather passages? And when they leave their churches, like King Joram, don’t they miss them?(See 2 Cap. 21, 20).
The abrupt end of the ministerial relationship is not always due to the mistreatment of the Council in relation to the pastor; moreover, it is not always possible to separate others from the minister responsible for the failure of this pastor-church relationship. , the pastor himself is responsible for “shortening”?his influence and time as pastor of the local church. Some of the mistakes made by the minister are so serious that they end?in his relationship with the flock, making it impossible for his ministry to continue in this area.
- To help you assess your own attitudes and make you reflect on the progress of your relationship with members of your local church.
- I mention some factors that may hinder the proper functioning of your pastoral care.
- The recommendations here follow the irony resources and should lead to corrections as soon as possible.
- As ideally the pastor regrets and corrects his faults.
- So if you want to reduce your influence and time on the local pastorate.
- Keep making these seven mistakes.
Some pastors seem to forget the biblical principle of cordiality (Romans 12. 10) and end up offending people in their interactions. Is it not always possible to justify this attitude by the rudimentary training of these workers, some of whom even have several degrees and excellent academic training, perhaps for that very reason, are they so interested?They have knowledge and end up undoing those who have not had the same opportunity to study, so instead of using knowledge as an instrument to build others, they use it to offend and denigrate herds in the flock.
In general, when a person thinks he is the only one who has knowledge, he ends up expressing his pride and pride and interrupting what could be an uplifting interaction. When a shepherd treats his sheep as if they were idiots, he forgets that, of these same sheep, prayers come for him, his livelihood and the opportunity to develop his ministry. Perhaps this pastor, having studied and read so much, needs to remember the Bible verse that says, “If anyone thinks they know something, in fact, have you not yet learned how convenient it is to know?”(1Co 8. 2).
Domestic visitation is a basic activity in pastoral ministry. However, it has become a rarity in this era of social media domination. Some pastors seem to believe that they can browse through Facebook and WhatsApp, although these media are useful in large urban contexts, where displacement is always difficult, their effectiveness is superficial and relative. There are situations in which only the pastoral visit satisfies the desires of the afflicted sheep. Where counseling is necessary, comfort is sought from the sick, resolution or mediation in certain conflicts is urgent or biblical instruction is necessary, pastoral visit is sine qua non. A former mentor told me that my congregation could even forgive me for some bad serums, but never neglect the pastoral visit.
In addition to being a duty, visiting is a great way to get to know sheep better and develop lasting relationships with them. Some of the herd’s needs are only met with this activity. Therefore, do not limit your ministry to the public proclamation of the word of God, but try to serve that same word on a personal level, through regular visits. If you don’t, your ministry may be short-lived at your local church.
It is easy for the minister to fall into the wrong situation of thinking that effective leadership requires the best ideas and projects to be his own, so the same worker may feel threatened or intimidated when other people have good ideas or ideas. In this case, one of the natural reactions of this same leader is to discourage, albeit with courtesy, or completely ignore the suggestions of his followers, this attitude will over time result in the discouragement and withdrawal of those who could voluntarily collaborate with church projects. If a sheep realizes that her suggestions are being overlooked, she also feels discouraged from collaborating with her time and effort.
The body of Christ develops with the collaboration, talents, and gifts of all; To do this, a pastor must be grateful to God for these more creative and visionary members than he is. The blessed suggestions of these sheep finally free the minister to do what he desires. He was truly called to do: to devote himself to prayer and to the Word; In addition, when the church member realizes that his ideas have been appreciated, he is more fully committed to executing them. What many pastors forget is that Christian work is a voluntary effort and that the best way to capture this contribution is to respect their sheep and appreciate their ideas. It should be remembered that even this process of welcoming, implementing and reorganizing the new ideas of the members of the congregation is part of pastoral dissipulat with those who wish to learn to work in the Kingdom, so contempt for these ideas ends up affecting the pastor’s relationship with his sheep and driving him away from his flock.
There are people who, out of pride, do not admit to losing; others, out of immaturity, cannot give in. When that person takes the lead in a Presbyterian church, the consequences are disastrous. Presbyterianism is characterized by shared leadership, where more than one former queen over the flock. Besides, this government cannot follow the “domain” model, but it must follow the “exemplary” model (see 1P 5. 3). In general, the decision-making process in this system is carried out through board meetings where the objective is the consensus of the group. However, when a pastor cannot lose an argument in these meetings, what should be uplifting becomes a true. “battlefield. ” The worst thing is that right now, the pastor reveals all his charity and lack of humility and self-control. Your influence on these tips won’t last!
In the process of maturation as a leader, it is important for the pastor to learn to “choose their battles”. There are issues by which not a millimeter can be compromised, especially when it comes to issues fundamental to the doctrine we preach and have been called to defend. In such cases, is it necessary to fight diligently for our faith (cf. Thu 3). However, there are other issues that are secondary, tertiary or even preferential in nature, in these cases it is necessary to choose why to fight and fight, we should not argue on preferential grounds, since, if so, any interaction in If we lost the discussion, would become a dispute. And for other elders of a local council, few things are more unpleasant than attending meetings with a pendencierous and unbalanced pastor.
Closely related to the above topic, this point refers to the dominant attitude of the pastor in his interactions broader than the simple circle of leadership, some people have not learned to live with the opponent and therefore do not accept that they contradict them. used to designate those who wish to lead without being upset?”tyrant,” and the pastor should not be known to any of them, for his leadership style must follow that left by Jesus.
A pastor’s intolerance of the adversary reveals his contentious character; However, Paul wrote to the young Timothy that the Lord’s servant must not live to fight, but be kind to all, able to instruct, patiently, gently discipline those who oppose, wait. May God grant you not only repentance to fully know the truth, but also a return to wisdom?(2 Timothy 2. 24-26). In other words, even in the face of opposition, the pastor must respond with kindness and kindness. Moreover, the contradictory can be uplifting and beneficial, for “The way of the madman in his own eyes seems straight, but the sage listens. advice?” (Pv 12. 15). For this reason, the refusal to be countered and to live with the adversary will eventually deplete relations and wipe out his local pastorate.
Ministerial activity is of great importance in the dynamics of the local church, this is notorious for the fact that the pastor occupies the center of public meetings in the church, usually directs the liturgy, preaches the sermon and announces the weekly activities of the church. All this contributes to the rest of the herd having him as an important person in the dynamics of the local church. In addition, in some families, decision-making often includes consultation or advice with the pastor of the local church. Others will likely ask you for advice in other areas of life: marriage relationships, paternity, labor problems, or personal dilemmas. In addition, the scriptures teach that pastoral ministry is a blessing of the Risen Christ to the earthly Church (see Ephesians 4:11). So it’s really an important service in church life.
However, there is a difference between understanding the importance of pastoral ministry and the mistake of thinking that the pastor is the most important person in the church, when the pastor falls into this trap of imagining that he is indispensable for the ecclesiastical dynamics or that he is responsible for the growth of the Church, his heart becomes superb and begins to have God himself as an enemy , for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Tg 4:6). In this case, the pastor’s time and influence in the local church can be interrupted by divine judgment itself. In fact, the more our sense of importance grows, the more we must ponder the Bible verse that teaches: “Don’ Do you think of yourself beyond what is right?”(Rom 12,3).
The auxiliary pastor’s relationship with the incumbent may be very beneficial for both, but it is not without tensions. The assistant should always remember that his position in the church is extremely reliable, because if the incumbent did not trust him, he probably would not invite However, it is true that no pastor dreams of being an assistant throughout his ministerial life.
Over time, the desire to lead a local church, preside over its council, plan church activities, in short, act as the lead pastor, begins to grow in your heart. It’s only natural that this is the case. Over time, the auxiliary pastor gains more experience and safety and begins to identify some of the strengths and weaknesses of the herd leader, which is not natural, however, that before taking control of his own church, the auxiliary pastor wants to act as if he were the titular pastor of the church, coming to contradict, denounce mistakes or reject the manager , when this happens, there is an abuse of trust and an ethical failure, of course, these errors are safe In such cases, dismissal will not take long!
The ideal in the relationship between the pastor and the local church is certainly that the time and influence of the leader lasts for years; However, due to many factors, this ideal is not always achieved; Unfortunately, one of the factors that the pastor himself often overlooks it is his personal defects that need to be corrected as soon as possible. The above suggestions touch on some of these mistakes that, only through humble reflection before God and others, can be corrected. My prayer, dear pastor, is that the topics presented are useful for your personal analysis.