Foundations of a Faithful PastorSýnishorn

What Motivates You?

It was late one night, and my children were already asleep when I got a call from Damian.[1] He was calling to tell me about how he had been hurt by the pastoral staff at the church where he was a member. More than that, he explained to me why he no longer believed in Jesus or Christianity. As we spoke over the next hour, I heard stories of him being yelled at, sworn at, and generally mistreated by multiple staff pastors of the church. When he brought those concerns to the lay pastors, he was ignored. He was told that because the staff pastors were confronting sin in his life, they were not in the wrong. Rather, he was “spiritually unhealthy” and the fact that Damian was bringing up accusations against those staff pastors only further validated that reality in their minds.

Sadly, Damian’s story is all too common. In an age of celebrity pastor culture, a mentality can develop that a pastor is above being in the wrong when doing “ministry.” Moreover, since so many pastors feel the pressure to maintain a certain image in their role, it can become virtually impossible to admit when they have made a mistake or specifically sinned against a congregant.[2] When these lies take hold of a pastor’s heart, the only option left to him is to blame those that brought concerns against them, sometimes even attributing those concerns to an attack from the Devil himself.

Pastors, governing boards, and congregants must grow in their awareness of this common issue and be prepared to respond to it in a God-honoring manner. Thankfully, scripture speaks to this issue repeatedly and informs pastors about how they should lead.

Seeking Personal Praise-Are You Serving the Wrong Master?

On numerous occasions, the New Testament warns us about the motivations of religious leaders. The Pharisees serve as an example in Jesus’ day of those who were motivated by the praise of man (Matt. 6:1-4). Those motivations would eventually manifest as fasting and praying to be noticed by the people in a community of faith. However, in our day, it can look like seeking to build a platform or chasing pastoral celebrity.

Seeking personal praise is subtle because the work that a pastor can receive praise for is directly linked to serving God and people. One pastor can preach a sermon in front of a large crowd and be motivated to bring glory to God, and another can preach to an equally large crowd while being motivated to bring glory to himself. However, sometimes it is more overt. A pastor who preaches to gain as many laughs as he can through the telling of jokes may very well be evidencing that he is seeking man’s praise more than God’s glory.

While we can’t know the exact condition of a man’s heart, we do have biblical examples of men revealing the state of their hearts by their behavior. As a result, the New Testament authors can conclude that the motivations of their hearts had deviated from a commitment to God’s glory alone.

Application Questions

·Do you find yourself needing to hear affirmation after a sermon?

·Do you feel more defeated on Mondays when you don’t get enough positive feedback?

·Whose opinion is most important to you in the church, so you get anxious when they aren’t happy with you?

·Take a moment to read Matthew 6:1-4 and ask God to reveal and remove any selfish motivation for the ministry work that you do.

[1] The name of this person has been changed for publication.

[2] Lifeway study stating 90% of pastors feel pressure to preserve their image in ministry.