I was at a conference at Willow Creek two weeks ago and overheard an interesting comment. A pastor from Florida was beginning to lead a worship session (he already spoke the previous day) and was making some comments to get us focused. A person sitting behind me was laughing at what the leader had said and remarked, "I'd go to this guy's church. He is so funny."
The comment wouldn't have hit me so hard had it not come from a church leader. It really made me think about expectation people have for church leaders and what church leaders (pastors and preachers included) have to do and be in order for people to come to church. Do I have to be funny so that I make people laugh? Do I have to have a commanding presence to get people's attention? Do I have to be able to write books and preach spell-binding messages to gain the attention of people?
Long ago I dealt with the fact that I cannot meet everyone's expectations as a pastor. I will fail or fall short or slip up along the way. But these expectations are far beyond what the Biblical Expectations for leaders are in I Timothy 3 and Acts 20 (I will let you read it). Is it not enough for church leaders and pastors to have strong faith, know the scriptures, watch over our families and shepherd (protect and feed) the flock given to us? We also have to be funny and articulate and engaging with outgoing type A personalities, and caring and knowledgable in all leadership issues and have all the answers for church life and be able to leap tall buildings in a single leap.
O.K., I overreacted to a single comment one person made. But is does make us think about what we expect from our leaders. Wht do you think?
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