Effective or just successful?
"Crucial Factors to the Spiritual Effectiveness of Pastors"
The search for success has become an all-consuming obsession in lives of men and women in the western world today. This search is found in the areas of both work and play, in business and in recreation and interestingly, the same search has found its way into the ministry. Ironically the western world has endeavored to drive a wedge between the sacred and the secular, yet the search for success seems to encompass both. Here we may pose a question: which is greater—finding success or finding effectiveness? The answer to this question indicates the great dichotomy that exists between the ministry of success and the ministry of effectiveness.
“The two look the same to me,” one may say. On one hand success and effectiveness may look very much alike as the terms may apply to the “end” of one’s efforts; on the other hand, the difference is subtle and dangerous. Success may be thought of as “mastery” or “the gain of one’s end.” It carries with it the idea of winning, which implies that someone or something must lose—there is triumph and there is defeat. There is victory and advantage over subjugation and perhaps oppression. Effectiveness contains the idea of “capable”, “influential”, “useful.” This is concept of power, of ability, of efficacy, of almightiness. The difference between the two is what (or who) lies at the center.
If a pastor is successful, is he effective? Or, is the effective pastor successful? I would say this depends on his focus—who is at the center of his ministry. This will become clear as we think about the contrast. Let us take a few moments to discuss two different kinds of ministries and two different kinds of pastors. One kind we may say is “successful” and the other is “effective.”
For the sake of the examination, let us return to the beginning to agree there are two kinds of beings—men and not-men. Obviously since we here are human and we are discussing “men” then let us eliminate from our discussion those “not-men.” Now concerning man, one must discover from whence he came—either one is self-made or has an origin outside himself, namely God. Here we will agree that man has formed neither his inside nor his out so we will accept on the witness of scripture that God made man. Next we must discover what or whom is the center of man—for what purpose does he live? Since he did not make himself he certainly cannot glorify himself, but though those who try mark humanity, we will recognize the sinful nature that came about as the result of man’s desire to replace God; hereby, we distinguish that man is either self-centered (rebellious or sinful) or he is God-centered (reconciled or saved).
Since Pastors are the topic of this consideration, let us assume now he is “saved.” What does it mean to be saved? Again clean categories can help us distinguish those saved (that is, rescued) from eternal death (that is, hell) and those who are saved (that is, rescued) from the penalty and power of sin (that is, hell and the effects of sin) and will one day be saved (that is, rescued) from the presence of sin. The difference is that many men and women are saved from hell and have not let go of their sin as “fire insurance” is enough. The words and work of Christ on the other hand, emphasize the latter—that man must be saved from the sin nature. Even pastors can make the mistake of thinking they are secure in salvation without 1) fully knowing what it they are saved from; and 2) what it means to live the life of one saved.
So let us here ask: “What’s at the center.” Every pastor will say, “God!” Really? The Bible says “and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2). How can this be checked? How can one know if his mind is transformed? One may hold up his evidence and say, “see all the good and acceptable and perfect things that are being done at my church?” These things may be well and good, but the question was aimed at the MIND—how can one tell what his MIND is like?
Looking at it another way we could discover who or what is at the center not by what is done in public but by what is done in private. Is God acknowledged or is the mind turned over to depravity (Rom 1:28-32)? What characterizes the life of the pastor? In this Bible passage one sees a long list of tell-tale signs that show where his mind is, what his heart is like, what he is in fact saved from. Notice that a small thing like “disobedience to parents” is in the same list as “murder”—both come from the same mind that does not acknowledge God.
Consideration of the mind is only a starting place. What about the walk—either the pastor walks in the Spirit or walks in the flesh (Galatians 5). Walking in the flesh is evidenced by very similar characteristics of one whose mind has been turned over to reprobation. It has been argued that man must gain mastery of himself in order to walk in the Spirit. If this is the case then the one who masters himself is really the slave to himself. If he has everything “under control” then he is not master but slave—and if does not have everything under control there is certainly no mastery over anything but slavery to that which control is lost to. This is why even self-control does not come from self but is evidence of one who is living and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit.
As mentioned before mankind has taken great strides to break the sacred and the secular apart; thus, spirituality and “the real world” are at opposite ends. This is not the case however for even the animist will agree that everything is sacred. Touching the Pastor here another area of consideration—in what realm does he concern himself: the physical or the spiritual? Either the world in which we live touches the spiritual and his concern is how to live in the meaning of the Victorious Christian life (the “normal” Christian life) or he may live the average Christian life and find ways to struggle through it. His concern in the physical realm is with the physical, with appearances, with the numeric and statistic. This leads to wonder how once accomplishes his task—is he driven by quality or quantity? Does the pastor desire to see souls not only saved from the horrors of hell but grow in the true knowledge of Christ through conversion and sanctification or would he like to see his job “done” and be given more to talk about among his peers? Would he like to be successful or effective?
The effective pastor has a living ministry where the church needs him to live a life of earnestness, to delight himself in God, to emulate the apostles’ goal of ministry, to model Christ Himself. The effective pastor must preach exegetically the whole counsel of God, must live out the effectiveness and completeness of the good news of the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. He must be humble because he will be numbered among the few.
The successful pastors are many, busy about the “things” of God over God Himself, preaching “harmony” with an ineffective and integrated gospel. He cannot live without the church, employing methods to get the job done so he can go home at the end of the day. He is lukewarm because he is just a community example, full of rhetoric and the ease of the age. His churches are large and the numbers keep his anointed from being touched. He lives like an old man, putting away the new.
What are the crucial factors for effective pastoral ministry? The effective pastor must have God at the center for a transformed mind. He must be filled with the Spirit to walk out a life of sanctification. The effective pastor is concerned with the spiritual realm, who is needed by the church to earnestly invest in people to see them grow into Christ likeness (“Christ in you the hope of glory” Col. 1:27), living out Jesus in front of them. He must preach whatever comes next IN SCRIPTURE out of which comes a complete and uncompromised ministry where the effectiveness of the gospel is applied to every area of life for the purpose of godliness. His position is low and he is few in number.
Effective or successful? If one has to come out on top, to make a name for himself, he is constructing another Babylonian tower. Idolatry is a judgment of God (Rom. 1). God makes a name for Himself. For a pastor to be successful to take God’s name in vain; that is, to misrepresent all He has done, all He is and all He will do.
