The Freedom of Limitations: Pastoring Within Your Gifts
When I began my ministry, I thought I had to do it all. I had to be a world class preacher, an innovative CEO and a compassionate counselor with deep insights into the human condition. Here’s what I found out:
I didn’t have to do it all.
I couldn’t do it all.
In fact, I couldn’t do most of it.
At my best, I could do one or two things well and for the rest? I’d just had to trust God and the congregation. This was a hard lesson to learn. Sometimes, the process was embarrassing and very humbling. If I deserve any credit in this process, it’s because at long last, I did learn these lessons.
And here’s what I also found out – everybody has to learn these lessons. As I look back, I’m very grateful the church and the Lord were very gracious in helping me understand the way God wired me to serve His church.
The first thing that happened is a few friends loved me enough to tell me the truth. Truth telling is always a risky business, but I knew these brothers loved me and wanted what was best for me.
What was best for me early in my career was to hear the brutal truth of my skills, my leadership abilities and my personality.
I’m a hard driver. I like to get things done. Sometimes, I want to get things done so badly that I forget the people I’m working with. I get excited about ideas and what we could make happen and as a result, I end up frustrating everyone who works for me because I’m changing my mind all the time.
I thought I was pretty good at being the CEO of a Baptist Church. A good friend of mine quickly disavowed me of this understanding of myself. “You suck.” Those were his exact words. Then he patiently went down a list of how I hadn’t met goals, randomly changed goals without input from anyone and thoroughly confused my team and the church. If I really loved the church, he told me, I would stay out of administration and the management side of the church.
Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, most of the church agreed with his assessment of me. In fact, their quick agreement to his conclusions hurt my feelings. Like I said, dealing with the truth is difficult sometimes.
But here is what surprised me…
My friend and the church quickly affirmed the gifts I had that served them best. They wanted me to focus on preaching, teaching and discernment. I have an ability to see how things are merging and transforming to bring new opportunities for the gospel. Spend your time using these gifts, I was told, and we can handle the rest.
I did.
And they did.
The result?
A happier pastor.
A healthier church.
A ministry that stretched over 30 years and came to a happy conclusion.
Here’s what I’ve learned that I wish I had known earlier...
One, we are made a particular way with particular gifts to serve Christ and His kingdom in a particular way. We are happiest when we find our place and focus our energies according to our gifts and release everything else.
Our churches are healthiest when they know their gifts and are using them to God’s glory. That happens when a pastor can honestly say, “This is what I can do and I need help everywhere else.” The church is then free to offer their own gifts to the church’s success.
Burn out means the pastor is working in the wrong lane doing the wrong things. We all have to work outside our gifts from time to time. No one can work for very long outside their gifts. We’re not made to live that way.
Here’s my encouragement to pastors…
Be who you are. Let the church be who they are. You’ll both be healthier and happier for it.