- Employees often work harder when the boss is around, but they slack off when the boss leaves.
- Kids are usually better behaved when their parents are around, but they take some chances when their parents aren't looking.
- When a teacher leaves the classroom, the students often dare each other to do things they wouldn't normally do.
While we can all probably admit that we're even guilty of at least one or two of these scenarios, I believe that within the church, there's a very unhealthy parallel that happens as well. I'll say it like this... When the pastor's away, the people go astray.
In other words, we've created a culture where many people misunderstand the role of a pastor. I've seen this culture be so true of churches that if the church knows the pastor isn't going to be there one Sunday, there's an obvious decrease in attendance.
I've spent a lot of time in various church settings throughout my life. Regardless of what denomination or type of church I was a part of, there always seems to be an "elevation" of the pastor in these churches. In some cases, people talk about their pastor more than they do Jesus. The pastor is usually one of the following...
- Iconic: He's been there for a long-time; he's greatly respected, and the people may even "revere" him by calling him reverend.
- Celebrity: The pastor is cool. He's funny and entertaining. He communicates well. He has the "it" factor and everyone just loves to hear him teach.
- Superhero: This is the kind of pastor who works 60+ hours a week trying to tend to all the needs of the church. He genuinely cares for the church he pastors, but he also doesn't see the pastor-centered culture he's created allowed his church to place upon him. If he does see it, he has no idea what to do with it.
- CEO: This is the pastor who never interacts with his church aside from his sermon. He's typically not personable and remains distant from real relationships.
If I can be honest for a minute, I don't think any of these pastoral types is what the Bible says a pastor should be.
- Is there anything wrong with a pastor being at a church for a long time? No, I think the constant cycling of pastors is why many churches are struggling so much.
- Is there anything wrong with a pastor being popular and influential? Not necessarily. Even Paul said "Follow me as I follow Christ."
- What about the pastor who tries to care for his people? A pastor who doesn't care about the people isn't a pastor, but he shouldn't be the only trying to care for everyone.
- Should a pastor not lead and manage? A pastor does need to lead, but he must spend time with the people he's leading.
Why am I bringing all of this up?... Just to bring to light the fact that in a vast majority of American churches the pastor plays an unhealthy role. It's unhealthy for the church to be that dependent on one pastor, and it's unhealthy for the pastor to be depended on that much. I'd even suggest that God could do more through our churches if pastors were not in the spotlight as much because it would require more people to step up.
I can say what God is doing through Overflow Collective is so freeing from a pastor's perspective. When it comes to our Sunday gatherings, there's three of us who share the teaching responsibilities. This means our church isn't built around a personality-type. It also means that the growth, life, and health of our church is shared equally among several leaders, which actually allows us to be a very diverse and intentional church.
Let me be honest though. Letting go of being "the guy" every Sunday was something I had to die to. I didn't go into church planting to only preach once every 2 or 3 weeks, but I can honestly say it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made. I wouldn't have it any other way. Yes, I had to spend time with guys, and we've had to fine the right people in order for this to happen. It took time to make this shift. But it's funny how God helped this to happen when we decided to shift our focus from being an attractional, Sunday-driven church to a church of missional church communities. This shift has...
- Empowered others.
- Forced the church to think of "church" differently.
- Reinforced our vision that church isn't just merely a service on Sunday, but it's the followers of Jesus who do life together around the mission of Jesus.
- Ensured our future growth and multiplication won't come from consumers who merely "like the pastor"
I know this flies in the face of American church culture, and I'm not saying that a pastor who preaches every Sunday is self-centered and killing his church, but I do want to at least suggest a better alternative. I want to challenge us to think about how our behaviors may suggest that we're too focused and dependent on certain people, which in return, means we aren't learning to be as dependent on Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we should be.
