The Crisis of Christian Leadership
If pastoral ministry was difficult prior to the pandemic, during and after it the challenges exploded.
During “lockdown” season, we moved my Western Seminary class online. Suddenly, instead of teaching an energetic room of life-size pastors, I was staring at twenty postage stamp faces layered in rows in a Zoom session, audio snapping in and out in spurts, eight hours at a shot. But that was the least of our concerns. During those days, political controversies were boiling over. Our class was part of a master’s program in Biblical leadership, and as you might imagine, we spent hours talking through cultural issues – how to faithfully shepherd our congregations through such times.
Many of the pastors began to wrestle with deep discouragement.
No matter what they did, there was push-back from one group or another in their congregations. To mask or not to mask? Focus more on politics? Ignore politics? Delve into race and justice issues? Avoid them altogether? People were exiting for every kind of reason, moving to churches that agreed with their politics, or just giving up and leaving church altogether.
Polls and surveys confirmed the anecdotal evidence gathered from my students – pastors were discouraged and leaving the ministry in record numbers.
A recent Lifeway study found that 75% of pastors say they are “extremely” or “very” stressed, and nearly 1 in 3 admit they’ve seriously considered quitting full-time ministry in the past year.
All that to say – I understand the challenges of pastoral ministry in our cultural moment. Even in the best of times, pastoral ministry can be difficult. Called to care for people, pastors wade into a swirling kaleidoscope of life experiences, from depths of sorrow to heights of joy. Pastors move from wedding to graveside, baptism to crisis counseling, often all in the same week. On a good week, as a pastor, you may find yourself riding a rollercoaster of emotions. On a bad week, you may feel like the ragged remains of a piñata after a healthy beating from a scrum of sugar infused six-year old's at a birthday party. And regardless, each Sunday you'll be expected to bring a life-changing message through a carefully crafted sermon.
I like to call this repeated pattern of pastoral ministry: “the relentless burden of the ultimate.”
I’ve been there. I understand the challenges facing Christian pastors and leaders as they engage in ministry.
But there’s another kind of crisis facing Christian leaders today – just as real and even more dangerous – the crisis of leaders caught between the lure of power and the way of the Cross. This crisis isn't about external factors: circumstances, pressures, expectations, or cultural conflicts. This crisis plays out in the heart: outlook, attitudes, motives, identity. Put simply, this is a crisis of character.
It's about the formation of character, or, the corruption of character in the Christian leader. And it's about how character impacts choices, actions and outcomes. This is the crisis I want to explore in LessHerod.com
It's a crisis that includes pastoral ministry, but extends well beyond it. Elders and deacons, leaders of ministries, leaders of para-church organizations, Christians in politics or political organizations. Indeed, anyone who is a disciple of Christ and wants to make an impact for Christ is included. Whether we know it or not, each one of us is living and doing ministry at the intersection of power, Christian leadership, and the way of the Cross.
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