The Truly Successful Pastor
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”
-Matthew 25:21, ESV
Last time, we concluded our look at the pastoral office and its relation to church conflict by looking at the downfall of three high-profile Christians: Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell, and Ravi Zacharias. We talked of lessons learned from these situations, like the importance of accountability, the danger of valuing numbers and giftedness above character, and the need for safeguards to prevent misuse of authority. But we did not talk at all about the root cause. We will now examine this and then provide the remedy: a definition of pastoral success that comes from Scripture not society.
Bad Apples?
Were Mark Driscoll, Ravi Zacharias, and others like them just a few bad apples, or was there something more going on? When unethical behavior is unearthed in any organization, people often say that the perpetrates were just a few bad apples who do not represent the values or culture of the organization. But I am reminded of a lesson on ethics from a leadership course I took years ago. The instructor first pointed out that apples can go bad because they are in a bad barrel: their behavior was facilitated or even encouraged by the culture of the organization. As I observed in my leadership paper, W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran, and Myron Tribus all noted that the vast majority of quality problems in organizations come from the system and not the individual. The instructor was suggesting that this can apply to ethical failures as well. This should come as no surprise to Christians, since we know that all people are sinful, so organizations are made up of people who are sinful. Therefore, every organization has the potential to be a bad barrel, so it takes extreme leadership vigilance to keep the barrel from turning the apples rotten. But the instructor took the analogy a step further by saying that the barrels may be bad because of a bad barrel maker. This means that the organization creates or facilitates bad behavior because it was created and shaped by a bad culture in a broader sense. In that case, a few bad apples may be indicative of a much larger societal problem.
Are people like Mark Driscoll and Ravi Zacharias bad apples because their organizations enabled their bad behavior? If so, did their organizations enable their bad behavior because of our culture? I would answer “yes” on both counts. Both ministries were built on the men rather than the Gospel, so they were tempted to tolerate behaviors in those men that they wouldn’t tolerate from anyone else. These bad apples were facilitated by bad barrels. But I would argue those bad barrels were the product of a bad barrel maker: a Christian culture that overemphasizes fame, massive churches, and emotional experiences. This is the result of a consumerist view of the church, so they are merely responding to the market. This is not to say that Mars Hill or other such churches abandoned the Gospel to cater to consumerism, but they did understand that a large proportion of the people who attended, listened online, and donated did so primarily because of Mark Driscoll or those like him. So when such pastors disqualify themselves by their behavior, they are often not confronted because it is seen as preferrable to silently endure their errors rather than risk the downfall of the ministry by exposing them. But God promised that the truth will come out in the end (Luke 8:17), bringing about the downfall they fear. The foundation of such churches may still be the Gospel, but the way they build on those foundations cannot stand the test of hard truth:
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
-1 Corinthians 3:10-15, ESV
Mars Hill and similar churches build upon the foundation of the Gospel with the wood, hay, and straw of personality, skilled delivery, catchy and emotionally engaging music, and various other things that either intentionally or unintentionally cater to the consumerist Christian. This model may produce short-term growth, but it is not the way that God builds His Church, so it will ultimately fail. Therefore, this model that is viewed by so many as the pinnacle of successful ministry is actually the opposite. To truly evaluate successful ministry, we need to view it the way God does—and He has a very different definition of success than we do.
God’s Definition of Successful Ministry
What is the definition of successful ministry from God’s point of view? It is to labor to build the Kingdom of God in the way that He has ordained that it be built, which Jesus described in His teachings on the Kingdom:
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
-Matthew 13:31-33, ESV (cf. Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-19)
And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
-Mark 4:26-29, ESV
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
-Luke 17:20-21, ESV
The point is clear: Jesus will build His Kingdom slowly and gradually. Like a mustard seed, it starts small but steadily grows until it cannot be ignored. Like leaven, it appears insignificant at first, but through small and often unnoticed acts of faithfulness it will permeate and ultimately take over the entire world. Like seed in general, it grows in ways that we cannot understand. It is the tiny stone of heavenly origin that toppled the statue then grows to be a mountain filling the whole earth in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2). Its growth is often imperceptible, but that does not mean it isn’t there. As we discussed here, the Kingdom is built over many generations.
Therefore, successful ministry is that which is characterized by faithful labor toward the steady growth of the Kingdom. It is not flashy and may not even be visible to anyone but God. It looks like husbands and wives faithfully raising their children to be godly husbands and wives raising godly children of their own. It looks like single people working to bless and disciple the families around them and vice versa. It looks like people praying for one another, studying Scripture together, and generally spurring one another on to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24). It looks like humbly and faithfully obeying God in whatever workplace He has put you in order to quietly facilitate the growth of His Kingdom as Mordecai did. It looks like facing trials with faith in God’s sovereignty and goodness that results in such contentment that observers have no choice but to glorify God. It looks like the George Street Evangelist who shared the Gospel daily for decades with those he encountered without knowing if any of them ultimately trusted in Christ. That is what successful ministry looks like.
And notice how this definition of success says nothing about results. God measures success in faithfulness not results. He is sovereign over the results, making our ministry bear the fruit He has determined. Noah was called a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5) even though a century of preaching yielded not one convert. As I observed here, Abraham is the true father by faith of everyone who believes (John 8, Romans 4) even though only one of his many children was faithful. Moses occupies a unique position as the servant of the LORD faithful in all His house (Numbers 12, Hebrews 3) even though the Israelites constantly rebelled against him. Elijah was considered the greatest of the prophets even though his ministry did not reverse Israel’s downward spiral. Scripture extols their success despite dismal results, and we must learn from their example.
Even when results do come, they may not come in the lifetime of the one who faithfully labors. The George Street Evangelist saw no fruit from his ministry until just before his death, when a pastor told him of the testimonies of several pastors and missionaries who came to Christ through his work and were impacting hundreds of thousands of people for Christ. Many missionaries likewise labor their entire lives among unreached people seeing limited success. A Japanese pastor noted that from the time the Gospel arrives in a new country to the time it truly takes hold is often over two hundred years. He described faithful labor in this time as manning a battering ram against the gates of hell. No battering ram can knock down a gate in a single swing, but instead it weakens the gate through repeated blows. The final blow may look successful because it bursts open the gate, but it was no more important or successful than any previous blow that seemed to have no effect. All Christians would be wise to remember this. The scale and timeline of God’s work are far beyond our individual lives or comprehension. He defines success, and He has determined that true success is measured in faithfulness not visible results.
The Successful Pastor
If God measures success in ministry (and in life in general) by faithfulness, it naturally follows that a successful pastor in God’s eyes is the pastor who remains faithful to the ministry that God has assigned him. This means that a nationally renowned pastor with a massive church may not be truly successful, whereas an unknown pastor of a small church may be wildly successful. What then does a successful pastor look like? First, he is most likely the pastor of a small church. This is not to say that pastors of large churches cannot be faithful and therefore successful or that small churches are inherently successful. What it does mean is that at present, the broad road still leads to destruction and only the narrow road leads to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14). I do believe that as the Kingdom grows, there will come a day when the vast majority of the world will be Christians, resulting in many large and faithful churches. For more on that, see this series on eschatology. But at present, most faithful churches will be small churches. The successful pastor therefore most likely leads a small church in obscurity.
The successful pastor preaches and teaches the entire Word of God without compromise (2 Timothy 4:1-2), so He calls people to repentance just as to faith. He does not water down the Gospel or let any contemporary issue usurp the Gospel in priority. He does so winsomely and does not set out to offend people, but he understands that the Gospel is inherently offensive. The depravity of man is so comprehensive that no matter how good someone may look on the outside, all are headed for hell and have absolutely no ability to alter that course (Romans 1-3, Ephesians 2:1-3). It is only when we understand our hopelessness apart from Christ that we can truly understand and treasure the Gospel of Christ in which He works salvation on our behalf. If we can have any hope in ourselves, we don’t really need the hope of the Gospel. Therefore, faithful Gospel preaching must dash these hopes in order to drive us to place our hope entirely on Christ. This message is offensive, especially in a society in which even many churches have bought into the lie that people are mostly good. Therefore, the successful pastor never ceases to preach the complete and uncompromised Gospel.
The successful pastor spends much time in private ministry, especially with his own family. As discussed here, Richard Baxter spends more than a third of The Reformed Pastor talking about the importance of private ministry to individuals and families, so the successful pastor spends much time and effort in this ministry. And while the demands of the ministry are great, the successful pastor still spends adequate time and effort leading, discipling, strengthening, encouraging, and caring for his own family. The biggest impact most Christians will have on the Kingdom is through their own families, and pastors are no exception. Therefore the successful pastor does not neglect ministry to his family for the sake of ministry to the rest of the church. While pastoral ministry is certainly difficult on families, the successful pastor’s family should be thriving. Similarly, the successful pastor has a few close friends who disciple him and can hold him accountable, including other pastors. He is not alone and unapproachable but humbly relies on both the Holy Spirit and the mature saints God has placed around him. In short, the successful pastor is faithful in private.
Since success is measured in faithfulness, the successful pastor is committed for the long haul. Scripture is filled with exhortations to persevere, so the successful pastor is not the one who begins well but ends well. He is also faithful to a single local church. It is true that God moves His saints as He wills and therefore sometimes calls pastors to switch churches. It is also true that church conflict sometimes necessitates a pastor leaving a certain church. And it is certainly true that pastors can and should leave their churches with teams to plant new churches. But this is often not the reason pastors leave churches. They are either burnt out or have fallen victim to the larger cultural practice of job-hopping. Mobility of leaders and its accompanying lack of long-term commitment is W. Edwards Deming’s fourth deadly disease of management, and it is just as toxic to the church as it is to any company. Therefore, in most cases the successful pastor enters the ministry in a particular church with every intention to pastor that church as long as he is able. Churches should therefore endeavor to support their pastors such that they will want to serve that church for the rest of their lives. The successful pastor sees the church—especially the small church—not as a stepping stone up the pastoral corporate ladder but as the flock of Christ that He has specifically entrusted to that pastor.
Just as ministry in general is multi-generational, pastoral ministry should be considered multi-generational as well. This means that the successful pastor also spends significant time and effort investing in his potential successors. Good leaders in all circumstances focus substantial effort on raising up new leaders, and the pastorate is no exception. Pastors should always be looking for men in the church with the character, gifts, and calling of ministry as pastors, elders, deacons, and missionaries. When such men are identified, pastors should be investing time and energy in discipling them toward that end. Ever since Paul and Timothy, that has been the expectation: “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1-3). Like Paul and Timothy, successful pastors are always looking for faithful men who are able to teach and then entrusting them with the knowledge of the Word for ministry.
This has always been crucial to the health of the church, but is especially important now as our current seminary model shows cracks. There is certainly great value in a seminary education, but as the cost of education in general skyrockets, that puts such a financial burden on prospective pastors and their churches that it becomes impractical in many cases. Since most faithful churches are small churches with small budgets—even if the members are tithing well and generously giving—they will not be able to support the burden of debt often incurred by a seminary education. So in order to meet the demand for pastors, churches will need to train up pastors internally. A seminary-trained pastor can and should spend significant time and effort passing that education along to other men. Since not every small church will have a seminary-trained pastor, multiple churches should come together to train men in this way. By discipling qualified men over several years using many of the same books used in seminary, a pastor can prepare men for ministry almost as well as a seminary can. In this way, the value of a seminary education can be multiplied such that every church can have adequately trained pastors, even if many haven’t had the opportunity to go to seminary. Therefore, the successful pastor is pouring his life into such men.
Conclusion
That is what the successful pastor looks like. I have been pastored by a number of such men over the years. They will never be famous. They will never preach in front of thousands or be invited to pray at the White House. Their churches may never grow beyond a handful of people, and their sermon recordings will not reach much beyond their own churches. But their names will be great in heaven because in God’s eyes their ministry is wildly successful. Therefore, we as a society need to stop measuring success by human terms like church size and giftedness. That is the bad barrel maker that leads to bad apples. Instead, we need to measure success as God does: in faithfulness. I hope all faithful pastors can be encouraged by this. No matter how much you may feel like a failure, you are successful as long as you are faithful, so you will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant!” For the rest of us, we need to continually encourage our pastors as we view their success the way God does: if they are faithful, they are successful.
