{"id":32464,"date":"2022-09-10T16:10:36","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/how-to-lose-a-pastor-in-10-years\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:10:36","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:10:36","slug":"how-to-lose-a-pastor-in-10-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/how-to-lose-a-pastor-in-10-years\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Lose a Pastor in 10 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Lisa Whittle<\/em><\/p>\n

How to lose a pastor in 10 years: Treat him like a rock star.<\/em><\/p>\n

These were the words of my social media meme just 48 hours before influential pastor Bill Hybels resigned amid accusations of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n

I had no idea.<\/em><\/p>\n

The irony didn\u2019t stop there. The news broke as I sat in a hotel room in Springfield, Missouri\u2014the very place many years earlier my own megachurch pastor-father had his crushing public fall from grace.<\/p>\n

It might disappoint you to know I don\u2019t want to talk about Bill Hybels.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve been his daughter. I\u2019ve lived the hard road of the public scathing aftermath, and I know what it feels like to have your world turned upside down by printed articles and public commentaries.<\/p>\n

No matter how old you get or how many people know your father\u2019s name, to you, he\u2019s just \u201cDad.\u201d And the man who held you when you had a bad dream at night is the man you know.<\/p>\n

Jim Reimer was the everyman but then again, he wasn\u2019t. He was a blue jeans- and boots-wearing, down-to-earth fighter of the underdog. Like many bright lights, it was easy to stammer over your sentences when he came around.<\/p>\n

A room didn\u2019t stand a chance when Dad walked in; all the oxygen became his. I\u2019ve never known anyone with more command or charisma.<\/p>\n

And yet, I\u2019ve never known anyone more complicated or tender.<\/p>\n

Because for all that bravado, he was as fragile as a reef. Turns out, the tough guy isn\u2019t necessarily the one who never breaks.<\/p>\n

I watched him silently beg people to treat him like the normal man he was. But that was hard for us all.<\/p>\n

The story is too long, but the abbreviated version is this: he lost his church over some tax trouble and wound up in a two-year sabbatical living out on a gravel road in a travel trailer. Those of us who loved him most cried ourselves to sleep at night, begging God to visit Him in the dark.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s painful when a pastor leaves a pulpit in question or disgrace. There is no side, despite what the news reports. There is a circular pain without an exit ramp. No Jesus follower wants the kingdom of God to be tarnished, and maybe that\u2019s the only thing any of us can agree on, but at least that\u2019s a start.<\/p>\n

When a pastor gets into an integrity-compromising scandal, they have to go home at night, sit in the silence, and face God. They may try to deny, run, hide\u2014or for a time, deflect\u2014but there will be a dead end of truth and Jesus.<\/p>\n

I rest in that\u2014and in the counseling that may well have saved me in the aftermath of my father\u2019s public fall: An elderly man with a stern face and a funny last name I can\u2019t completely remember said, \u201cLet your dad be human.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems simple, but that requires supernatural help and strength. Allowing my father to be human helped me to not live in the extremes\u2014seeing him as a rock star or as the biggest fraud who ever lived, the two ways we tend to categorize pastors that require the greatest healing when they fall.<\/p>\n

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See also  8 Ways to Persevere in Ministry<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I don\u2019t want us to lose any more pastors. I don\u2019t suggest we can prevent every pastor from his own demise. But I do believe we can help them in ways we might not even know we\u2019re currently hindering.<\/p>\n

Stop being impressed <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Maybe the best thing we can do to help our pastors is to stop being so impressed by them. They take the stage, preach the Word of God, and shepherd people. It\u2019s a position that deserves honor and respect.<\/p>\n

But save the awe for God.<\/p>\n

Stop wanting their light<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A lot of our \u201cpastor worship\u201d isn\u2019t about the pastor at all. It\u2019s about our desire to get near someone who stands in the spotlight. We want to be near someone who others want to know. But we do this at the pastor\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n

They sense the motive while longing for true relationship. And we don\u2019t need the light of another to affirm our significance.<\/p>\n

Stop ditching them the moment they disappoint you<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One the cruelest realities for pastors is how quickly they can be loved, then left. It plays into every insecurity, fear, and pressure to perform.<\/p>\n

In the face of their humanity and struggle, those who once sang their praises now curse their name. Pastors live with this constant awareness, and it deepens their daily pressure.<\/p>\n

Stop pretending they never meant anything to you <\/strong><\/h3>\n

I will never understand what often happens when pastors leave a pulpit in scandal and disgrace: The people left behind pretend they never existed.<\/p>\n

No matter what happened with your pastor, don\u2019t downplay the way they ministered to you and your family, gave wise counsel, or prayed over you.<\/p>\n

Those investments mattered. God can use any of us. If sinlessness were a qualification prior to usability, none of us would be used. God can still use truth of the Word despite the vessel bringing it.<\/p>\n

Stop letting them alter your beliefs about God<\/strong><\/h3>\n

No pastor is your God.<\/p>\n

They are human, flesh, fallible, and can get entangled in sin\u2014just like you and me. Believe the best about your pastor, but also understand he is capable of fleshly things.<\/p>\n

A pastor\u2019s failure can\u2019t change what you know to be true about the truth, goodness, holiness and character of God and His sovereign ordination of the Church, which does not change despite human lapse.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been 24 years since my father lost his church. I\u2019ve seen many more pastors fall since. And if humanity keeps up, there will be more.<\/p>\n

But God can help us.<\/p>\n

With this, as with all matters, may we look to Him.<\/p>\n

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Lisa Whittle<\/h2>\n

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

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Lisa is the founder of Ministry Strong, a ministry to help equip leaders to preach the gospel with integrity, prioritize family relationships, and learn proper soul care to serve Jesus with strength for the long haul. She\u2019s also a speaker, podcaster and author.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n