{"id":32225,"date":"2022-09-10T16:01:18","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-things-ive-learned-as-a-bivocational-pastor\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:01:18","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:01:18","slug":"3-things-ive-learned-as-a-bivocational-pastor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-things-ive-learned-as-a-bivocational-pastor\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Things I\u2019ve Learned as a Bivocational Pastor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Daniel Darling<\/em><\/p>\n

When I moved to Nashville in 2013 to begin a communications role at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, I knew I\u2019d be stepping into a new and completely different season of ministry.<\/p>\n

This new journey into denominational leadership would take me away from the day-to-day duties of leading a church as its pastor, as I had done for the six years leading up to this major shift in ministry.<\/p>\n

I was excited for this new opportunity to work alongside some brilliant colleagues and help equip the Church, but I wouldn\u2019t be preaching to and shepherding the same people anymore.<\/p>\n

In many ways, this step away was good for me. In the first couple of years, our family did something we hadn\u2019t done in many years: attended church as a typical Christian family without the responsibility of leadership.<\/p>\n

It was a new experience for us, an opportunity to receive<\/em> ministry instead of give it. I also had a chance to observe and learn. But it didn\u2019t take long for me to start miss preaching, teaching, and elder meetings.<\/p>\n

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A couple of years after this major transition, a pastor who I had respected for a while approached me about joining his staff on a part-time basis. I jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been doing this now for four years and have enjoyed it. And along the way, I\u2019ve learned quite a bit in this new experience as a bivocational pastor.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I\u2019ve found:<\/p>\n

1. Pastors don\u2019t often appreciate the sacrificial faithfulness of ordinary Christians.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When I pastored full time, I found myself constantly perplexed at the difficulty of coaxing people to get involved in the life of the church.<\/p>\n

What I didn\u2019t appreciate at the time was how difficult this can be for folks who work long hours and have young families. Now, this is, in some ways, my experience. I have a full-time job, various writing projects, and a growing family. There are many days I come home tired.<\/p>\n

As pastors, we\u2019re asking people to come and participate and work in their local churches on top of all of these responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Because we\u2019re in a pastoral bubble, we don\u2019t often see this. We fail to appreciate the busy dad who comes to late-night meetings at church, the homeschool mom who volunteers to lead VBS, or the traveling executive\u2014who despite working 60 hours a week at his or her current job\u2014still finds time to volunteer in the youth ministry.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t to say we shouldn\u2019t urge our people to sacrifice\u2014we should because Christ loves the church and our witness in the world demands it. But we should do it with a clearer understanding of people\u2019s busy lives.<\/p>\n

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See also  Why Pastors Must Acknowledge Their Own Needs<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Now, I look at our so many faithful church members and marvel at their sacrifices on behalf of the gospel. There are movies they\u2019re missing, projects at home they\u2019re putting aside, and hours of sleep they\u2019re foregoing to give back to Christ\u2019s body.<\/p>\n

2. Churches need to be wise in balancing our expectations of our people<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re on a church staff full time and it\u2019s your job to eat, drink, and sleep the life of your ministry, you can easily live in a kind of bubble where you\u2019re unaware of the busy lives of those you serve. It\u2019s easy to adopt a cynical attitude about volunteers and the time they\u2019re willing to give.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s easy to be cavalier about adding church events to the calendar.<\/p>\n

Every church has its own rhythm and flow, and the amount of activity to be held depends on the size of the church, along with other factors. The weekly gathering of God\u2019s people on Sunday is non-negotiable, of course.<\/p>\n

But outside of this, we should be wise at what other events we\u2019re going to demand. We should narrow down the amount of \u201cmust-attend\u201d events we schedule.<\/p>\n

Good shepherds should prod their people to sacrifice, but with full empathy for the lives people in their congregations lead, careful to push them toward flourishing and not burning out. Good shepherds also encourage their people to have margin in their schedules.<\/p>\n

3. Bivocational ministry is more difficult than it seems<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I have a really good situation at my church with a pastor who is understanding of my schedule and puts me in a situation to best apply my gifts. But bivocational ministry can be difficult, especially for pastors who bear the full preaching and leading role in their churches.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m thinking of pastors of small churches and church planters who work full-time jobs, have families, and still must prepare sermons, deal with crises that arise, and cast vision for their congregations.<\/p>\n

These are the real heroes, in my view.<\/p>\n

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Daniel Darling<\/h2>\n

@dandarling<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Dan is the director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Seminary. He is the bestselling author of several books, including The Characters of Christmas<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n