Nine Stereotypes for Pastors – My Latest Addition to The Pastors Workshop

November 5, 2011 By Mark D. Roberts Leave a Comment

My latest contribution to The Pastors Workshop is up. In this column, I consider different stereotypes for pastors. What I’m wondering about is this:

TV evangelist Benny Hinn preaching in San Antonio. Image from WikiCommons.

What roles and positions in our cultural setting might be projected onto pastors? If people learn that you’re a clergyperson, what assumptions might they have about you and your ministry? What might folks in your church and community expect of you as a pastor because they associate you with people who serve in roles like yours?

I’ve written this piece primarily for pastors, but it should stir up some thoughts among non-clergy as well. So, I’d urge you to check out “Nine Stereotypes for Pastors.”

 

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The Church Is Not Your Canvas

October 6, 2011 By Mark D. Roberts 2 Comments

One of my favorite writer-bloggers, Tim Dalrymple, has put up a post entitled “The Church is Not Your Canvas.” In this column, he interacts with a piece I wrote for The Pastor’s Workshop, a collection of my essays for pastors and other church leaders. My recent essay asks pastors the question: “How Do You Talk About Your Church?” I look closely at how Paul and his co-writers talk about the church of Thessalonica in the letter we know as 1 Thessalonians.

Here’s an excerpt from Dalrymple’s thoughtful post:

As Dr. Roberts makes clear, the church is not a playground for the pastor’s talents.  It is not the canvas on which the pastor creates his masterpiece.  The church does not exist for the pastor, and the church is not about the pastor.  The church is a work of God, through the gospel, and through the transformation the gospel works in our lives.  If the church is a stage, then we are at best the supporting cast.  If we focus upon ourselves when we’re telling the stories of our churches, then we’ve lost the narrative — because we’ve forgotten the identity of the protagonist.  As Rick Warren famously said, “It’s not about you.”  While God’s intimate care for each individual is mind-shattering, the story of salvation is ultimately not about us.  It’s about God.  The story of the church is not about us, either.  And the story of an individual church is not about the pastor.

There are all sorts of images we might use to communicate this.  Perhaps it’s best to say that the pastor is not the artist; the pastor is the brush, and the canvas.  The pastor is an instrument in the hands of God, a vessel for God’s creative and redemptive act, and then the pastor too is one of the re-created and redeemed.  The Artist is always God, and we are blessed to be an both an instrument in his hands and the object of his exquisite care.

You can see why I like Dalrymple’s thinking and writing. His blog is worth regular visits.

By the way, “How Do You Talk About Your Church?” is part four of a multi-part series I’m calling A Master Class for Pastors. I’m looking to the Apostle Paul as a master pastor to teach us how to shepherd God’s people in God’s way. You can find all parts in the Master Class here.

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Essential Relationships for Pastors: The Loneliness of Pastoring, Part 4

May 7, 2011 By Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

My new column at the Patheos Preachers Portal is up. It is the fourth and final part of my thoughts about pastoral loneliness.  Here’s the beginning:

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Essential Relationships for Pastors: The Loneliness of Pastoring, Part 4

This is the fourth and final installment in a series on “The Loneliness of Pastoring.” Let me offer a short recap of what I’ve covered so far.

Part One reflected on the recent suicide of a pastor I knew and how it underscores the loneliness of pastoring. I suggested that the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane exemplifies the experience, as well as showing that Jesus understands how pastors feel. Although we seem to be alone, we are not, because Jesus is with us in our loneliness.

In Part Two, I put forth the thesis that the professionalization of ministry exacerbates aloneness among pastors. Recovering the biblical vision of ministry, in which each member of the body of Christ is a minister, might help pastors be less removed from their congregations.

Part Three explained that all pastors need safe places to tell their “secrets.” They need relationships in which they can share their struggles, temptations, and fears, as well as their victories, opportunities, and dreams. In particular, pastors need close friends with whom they can share their true selves. Married pastors can open up with their spouses, though wisdom might require certain kinds of limits in marital communication about the church.

Today, I want to explore two other types of relationships that are essential for every pastor. Pastors who have these relationships not only will feel less lonely, but also will have safety nets to keep them from falling into disaster and coaches to help them excel in their calling.

For the rest of this column, click here.

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