Recently my friend Rodney challenged me to write one page on what I believe it takes in our day to be effective in pastoral ministry, and I thought some of you might be interested in what I wrote.

What It Takes

The purpose of a pastor is to prepare his people to live faithfully in the world. This is how to do that.

Engage the Culture

I believe we live in what Aaron Renn has called “Negative World”:

“In [Negative World], being a Christian is a social negative, especially in high-status positions. Christianity in many ways as seen as undermining the social good. Traditional norms are expressly repudiated.”

We must understand that Americans today—particularly the young and educated—are under tremendous pressure to conform to the culture and abandon the faith. A pastor must come to understand the culture’s claims and then must push back against them, showing how following Christ is superior to what the world offers.

Lead the People

A pastor must lead, which means he must go first. He needs to cast the vision and inspire the people with what’s possible with God. Going first in Negative World will mean the pastor will face opposition; nevertheless, going first is what love and leadership require and what the people need from their pastor.

Teach the Bible

The primary way a pastor prepares his people is through the teaching and loving of scripture. Most American Christians—of either the liberal or conservative variety—are functionally biblically illiterate, so a church must emphasize scripture reading and a pastor must preach sermons that help people understand that the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus.

Preach Prayer

It has never been harder to learn to be still and quiet before God, and never been more important. The pastor must constantly preach and model the practice of The First 15—the keystone habit of spending the first 15 minutes of every day in prayer, silence, and scripture.

Make Weekly Worship the Foundation and Furnace of Everything

Nothing is more important than weekly worship for God’s people. Worship must be inspiring to insiders and engaging to outsiders, and the people must understand and believe that their entire lives need to be structured around weekly church attendance—“never miss a Sunday”.

Love the Institution

Our times call for strong institutions, and the pastor must be passionate about stewarding and building on the legacy of those who came before; he must see fundraising and real estate and good governance, etc., as vital to his ministry. Why? Because strong institutions will build strong people.