{"id":10204,"date":"2010-08-31T01:27:01","date_gmt":"2010-08-31T01:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2010\/08\/31\/sevenmistakes\/"},"modified":"2010-08-31T01:27:01","modified_gmt":"2010-08-31T01:27:01","slug":"sevenmistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/sevenmistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Ministry Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

My wife and I were recently in a conversation about our years together. We will celebrate 33 years of marriage this year, and we dated for almost six years. The simple math was a surprise—we have been dating or married for nearly four decades!<\/p>\n\n

It was a good conversation, but I had moments of regret: times that I was too busy for my family, times I gave in to my tendency to want to win an argument with my wife rather than resolve the problem, times I failed to slow down and enjoy life.<\/p> \n\n

Mistakes in Ministry<\/h2>\n\n

I then reflected on my years when I served as senior pastor of four churches. I have often said that I wanted to write a book entitled Mistakes I Made in Ministry<\/em>. Then I realized it would have to be a multi-volume series!<\/p>\n\n

There are no “do-overs” in life and ministry. But there are always opportunities to learn, correct, and improve. So here are seven of the key mistakes I made as a senior pastor. Obviously, the list is not exhaustive. Seven just seemed to be a good, biblical number.<\/p> \n\n

Seven for Starters<\/h2>\n\n

As I began thinking about the mistakes I made as a pastor, I realized how gracious most church members were to me. And I realized how my family’s love for me is a total gift of grace. Here are the seven, but they are really just the beginning of many more.<\/p>\n\n

I would …<\/p>\n\n

    \n\n
  1. \nSpend more time in the Word and in prayer.<\/strong> I would follow the biblical pattern of the church leaders in Acts 6:4<\/a>: “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the preaching ministry” (HCSB).<\/li>\n\n\n
  2. \nGive my family more time.<\/strong> No one remembers the church committee meetings I missed. My family still remembers those times I was too busy for them.<\/li>\n\n\n
  3. \nSpend more time sharing my faith.<\/strong> Paul told the young pastor Timothy to do the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5<\/a>). Those words apply to all pastors today.<\/li>\n\n\n
  4. \nLove the community where I lived more.<\/strong> I would try to live more incarnationally. I would prayerfully seek to see how I could serve the community rather than see it as a population pool of prospects for my church.<\/li>\n\n\n
  5. \nLead the church to focus more on the nations.<\/strong> I would lead in helping our church grasp that missions is more than just an annual offering.<\/li>\n\n\n
  6. \nFocus less on critics.<\/strong> Most church members have no idea how many criticisms and “suggestions” a pastor gets each week. It can be overwhelming and distracting. Though I would be willing to listen, I would not obsess about every negative comment that was made about me.<\/li>\n\n\n
  7. \nAccept the reality that I can’t be omnipresent.<\/strong> So many people and groups want the presence of the pastor. Saying “no” can be difficult, but it can free the pastor to focus on some of the priorities noted above,<\/li>\n \n\n<\/ol>\n\n

    For This and the Next Generation<\/h2>\n\n

    While I can’t reverse the mistakes I’ve made, I can endeavor to move forward positively from this day on. Though my mistakes were made when I was a pastor, many of the lessons still apply to me today. And I hope that my mistakes can be a teaching tool for this and the next generation of pastors and church staff.<\/p>\n\n

    This life is so incredibly brief. I am amazed and sorrowful to recall how many times I haven’t been the steward of my life that I should be. But this is a new day. It is the day that the Lord has made. I have a fresh start.<\/p> \n\n

    In His power, I might just get it right this time.<\/p>\n\n

    Thom Rainer is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources<\/a>, and for 15 years prior to that led a church and denominational consulting firm.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    My wife and I were recently in a conversation about our years together. We will celebrate 33 years of marriage this year, and we dated for almost six years. The simple math was a surprise—we have been dating or married for nearly four decades! It was a good conversation, but I had moments of regret: Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[142,160],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[156],"tax_ctp_tags":[3609,3960,4482,5160],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-10204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-church-growth","tax_ctp_tags-family","tax_ctp_tags-mistakes","tax_ctp_tags-time-management"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nSeven Ministry Mistakes - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A former pastor 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