1.

Im encouraged by the pastor who sees church

planting as the mission of the church.
The mission of the church is making disciples of Jesus, and Im encouraged by the pastor who sees
congregations, not just converts, as part of ministry.
There is good researchand 2,000 years of experience in church historythat suggests meaningful
discipleship takes place in younger, smaller churches where the mission of the Great Commission is
the central focus. Of course, smaller is subjective, but according to the experts and historians, 150200 congregants offer the most intimacy and efficiency, simultaneously, for rich meaningful
discipleship among believers.

2. Im encouraged by the pastor who loves the

people he serves.
When the pastor genuinely loves the people he serves and sees their pains as his pains and their
celebrations as his celebrations, their struggles as his struggles, he will do the most good in the
world.
This is, no doubt, the most taxing part of the ministry, but I believe its this sort of meaningful
relationship that gives the pastor permission to speak plainly with the people he serves. It opens the
door to teach and speak truth into the lives of those he loves.
And he wont have these kinds of relationships with people if he is gunning for the next step in his
ministry career.

3. Im encouraged by the pastor who shepherds

people out of a deep, contemplative relationship
with God.
I alluded to this in the last post, but to look at it from the flip-side is helpful. Eugene Peterson speaks
to this issue best, in my opinion.
But simply put, the pastor who is motivated in ministry by a deep abiding personal relationship with
God (Acts 6:4) offers more lasting, spiritual value than the pastor who is motivated by the latest
trend in church-growth books and conferences.

4. Im encouraged by the pastor who remains

humble and teachable without being moved by every
wind of doctrine.

Pet doctrines and pet issues are like pet rocks. They make a big splash in the moment and are
forgotten by next year.
Last generation, it may have been the theater, worship music and Sunday school. This year, it seems
to be human trafficking, Calvinism and homosexuality.
Who can begin to speculate what the hot topics will be in generations to come?
The pastor who remains faithful to his call to pray, study the Scripture and equip the church for the
work of the ministry will have to deal with most doctrines and issues in time. And he should.
But Im encouraged by the one who continues to learn and grow, personally, without constantly
vacillating and jumping from one hobby-horse to the next.

5. Im encouraged by the pastor who is not defined

by a denominational agenda.
Denominational agendas can become like political party-line agendas. Most of us in America are tired
of Democrats and Republicans stubbornly guarding party-line agendas instead of working together for
helpful legislation that serves the American people.
I imagine we weary of seeing it in the church as well. Im encouraged by the pastor who sees the
denomination as a servant to the church and its missionand not the other way around.

6. Im encouraged by the pastor whose chief aim is

to glorify God and not please people.
Pleasing people in the congregation is like pleasing a denomination.
A pastor can strive to cooperate with peoples desires so long as they dont derail him from his
primary missionglorifying God and equipping the church to do the work of the ministrywhich is
making disciples of Jesus.
Im encouraged by the pastor who knows when and how to tell people in the church, no.

7. Im encouraged by the pastor whose personal

walk with God is more important to him than his
public reputation.
Pastors will receive their fair share of criticism from self-righteous people who think they have been
given the ministry of critique and criticism.

These Pharisees are often too spiritual for any pastor and spend their lives jumping from one church
to the next, never satisfied, and always having a story or two to tell.
Ive received my fair share, and Im sorry for every pastor who faces such ill-aligned scrutiny. But its
not an excuse to protect ones reputation at the expense of his personal walk with God.
Im encouraged by the pastor who is more concerned with the latter than the former.

8. Im encouraged by the pastor who loves the whole

body of Christ in its diversity and refuses to cater to
special-interest groups in the church he serves.
Churches will always be filled with people who have special interests. Calvinists, Arminians, homeschoolers, family-integrated folks, charismatic gift seekers, KJV-onlyists and hosts of other interests
permeate the church universal.
But the pastor who recognizes the foolishness of catering to the group who pays the bills or makes
the most noise, and has the courage to oppose such pressure, gets kudos in my book.
Im encouraged by the pastor who appreciates the diversity in the body of Christ and yet continues to
seek the unity of the body for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom.

9. Im encouraged by the pastor who understands

the gospel and its efficacy in all of lifeboth in
conversion and social justice.
The fundamentalist/modernist debate of the 20th century really provoked this disparity. Of course,
there were larger issueslike the deity of Christat stake.
But the fight caused a breach in the church that opened the door to the 21 st century with the
prospect of the gospels work of conversions in one corner and the prospect of the gospels work in
social justice in the other.
Im encouraged by the pastor who sees the gospel is both/and, not either/or.

10. Im encouraged by the pastor who is committed

to his wife and children more than he is committed
to his success among the brethren.
Im embarrassed to say there was a time in my ministry when I unwittingly lived out this fallacious
ideology. I loved my wife and children. I really did.

But the denomination I was part of at the time taught me my identity was wrapped up in the opinion
of the brethren. I needed my family to tow the line so I could be successful in the ministry I was
called by God to accomplish.
I dont blame the movement entirely, but it certainly cultivated this ethos. And it resulted in lots of
anger, frustration and abuse. I nearly drove my family into the grave.
Thankfully, the Lord granted me repentance and I learned my identity was in Christ, not my
performance. Im deeply encouraged by the pastor who knows his identity is in Christ and he is free
to minister to his family instead of drive themsometimes away from God.

11. Im encouraged by the pastor who properly

understands contextualization.
In other words, he gets his culture but refuses to accommodate it.
And he gets his tradition but does not hold to it blindly.
The pastor who knows how to present the truth of the never-changing gospel of grace to an everchanging culture of brokenness has profound insight and a special skill-set.