4 Ways Regular Pastors Can Make a Big Impact
Serving as a regular pastor may be one of the least glamorous, most overlooked jobs in the world. Our culture may recognize the outsized contributions of celebrity pastors, but it places little value on the contributions of regular pastors. This isn’t a pity party or a plea for validation, just a recognition of what is true, has always been true, and will always be true.
When I use the phrase “regular pastor” in this context, I’m referring to the men who pastor normative sized congregations – congregations with around 100 people in worship each week, congregations that do not have multiple staff members, congregations that do not have huge budgets. Many regular pastors are the only full time employee at their church, and many are bi-vocational / co-vocational. Despite the social media visibility of large churches and mega-churches, there are far more regular pastors than celebrity pastors.
Odds are, regular pastors won’t make a big impact through massive attendance on Sundays, impressive buildings, large and diverse staffs, or entertaining performances. Most regular pastors won’t have popular blogs, podcasts, or social media platforms. Most regular pastors won’t sign lucrative book contracts or headline the biggest conferences. No, regular pastors won’t make a big impact through any external, worldly metric of success.
However, regular pastors can make a big impact in the following four ways.
1. Tie yourself to the Word of God. Preaching fads will come and go. Narrative preaching, conversational TED-style talks, summer at the movies … let these preaching fads come, and watch them go. The way to have a big impact as a regular pastor is to commit yourself to expository preaching. The Word of God is living and active and sharper than a two edged sword. Allow the Word of God to pierce and shape your people. The Word can accomplish what no trend can.
2. Commit yourself to making disciples. Church growth experts, missional strategists, and pastor-coaches will always have some program or event or technique that they describe as a sure-fire way to grow your church. I’m not opposed to programs or events or techniques. However, I’m convinced that making disciples – just a few at a time – is a better way to pursue growth, and a better way to make a big impact over time. This was Jesus’ method, after all.
3. Strive for long tenure at your church. Two clarifications are in order. One, I think it’s OK for a regular pastor to “move on” to a new place of ministry. Two, I recognize that regular pastors don’t always have the opportunity to stay in one place for a long time. However, pastoral tenure is powerful. I agree with those who argue that young pastors tend to overestimate what they can accomplish in 1-3 years, while underestimating what they can accomplish in 7-10 years.
4. Pursue holiness in your personal life. In the 20 years since I first started seminary at Southern Seminary in Louisville, I’ve seen a shocking number of young pastors forfeit their ministry future because of personal, moral failure. Problems with money and sex are a sure-fire way to make sure you never have a big impact in ministry. Longevity, on the other hand, is a powerful way for a regular pastor to have a big impact on multiple generations of people.
