3 things I’ve learned after Pastoring 3 years

February 07, 2012 | by Jason Isaacs | Category: Church Stuff, Leadership, Personal Growth,

The Emotional Swings are crazy.
If you’ve read many of my articles you will notice a trend; many of them have to do with the psychological part of pastoring. Before the last 3 years, I was known as the “unemotional” guy. That was then, this is now. I was not prepared for the emotional swings. I was in ministry 6 years before becoming a lead pastor, but nothing could have prepared me for the burden of responsibility that comes with being in charge. Previously, when I was asked for advice from younger ministers about becoming a pastor, I would talk about speaking preparation or choosing the right church, but my biggest advice now is “Know who you are,” and make sure you at least have confidence in your calling. Insecure church leaders will never make it. You will either quit because of the feelings of failure, or you will be unbearable with success. I don’t mean to imply that the emotional swings are all bad, in fact, the highs are really high. The feeling of success, building loving relationships, and seeing growth in your people are all exhilarating. The lows are quite low as well; people leaving, expectations not being met, progress not being made, etc. Surviving the land mines of pride or agony of Mondays is crucial in having long-term tenure in ministry.

Growing a church is hard work
The great churches make it look so easy, but it’s not. I do believe that there are seasons where God allows hard things to seem less difficult, but growing a church is hard work. I laugh sometimes when I hear pastors of large churches make the comment “getting a crowd is easy.” They are usually saying this to a room filled with thousands of people, and in their experience attracting a crowd has been easy, but make no mistake about it, getting a crowd isn’t easy, and neither is growing a church. It takes hard work, faithfully done over extended periods of time, stuck in between God’s favor, blessing, and will. Consistent growth over time usually comes down to the less glamorous things like simple steps for connecting, parking traffic flow, and steady communication. I believe Easter is God’s gift to pastors to keep them from quitting each year. (I’m kind of joking) But, let those days be a vision for what God can do in your church, and know that God’s blessings mixed with hard work over time will bring those things to pass.

People Matter
I should've already known this, right? I thought I did. I thought I knew that people mattered, but I found out I actually loved programming more than people. When I closed my eyes and pictured "my church" in the future I always dreamed of what the stage, building, and worship band looked like. I never pictured the faces of people. I found myself early on building systems that actually isolated me from the people. The problem with leadership that isolates you from people is the Gospels. Yes, Jesus spent quality time training the disciples, but he always allowed the people to get to him, even when it inconvenienced him. I wish I could say I have changed and fixed my shortcomings with caring for people, but it's still a work in progress. Yes, I'm a leader. Yes, I create systems, but more than anything else I am a shepherd. I forget sometimes.

During these 3 years I’ve come to appreciate those pastors and leaders who have been faithful in the ministry for a long time. There is something to be said for faithfulness. I’m not naïve enough to believe that I’ve come even close to learning all that God is trying to teach me, but I am learning what his voice sounds like more and more each day.

How long have you been in ministry and what are some things that you have learned?

About the author
Jason is the Teaching Pastor at River City Worship Center in Louisville KY, and owns a web development company Jbirdmedia. He wanted all boys until he had his daughter Sadie and now he wants 4 girls. You can follow him on twitter @jasonisaacs