WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD A SUPER CHURCH PASTOR LEAVE?
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When Chuck Swindoll left his church to give his time exclusively to be
a national figure we all thought it was just a fluke. We knew that once
in a while a super church pastor leaves his church for other than moral
reasons. Then this year John Maxwell followed Swindoll over the hill. Some
of us raised our eyebrows and began to ponder why both of these very "succesful
men" left their super church pastorates. Now with Dale Galloway joining
the walkout, its worth seriously asking what might be happening. Why would
a pastor leave a super church where he seems to have everything you could
dream for? That is what I've been wondering. Some possibilities:
Pastoring a big church might mean a big salary, big fame and a big staff,
but it also means big criticism, big problems, and big headaches. The assumption
that they've "got it made" is inaccurate -- a myth the rest of
us make up about them, like peasants dream about how good it is to by king.
It is more common than you'd think for super church pastors to privately
confess they often yearn for the days when they pastored that church they
used to have of 125. These guys have left hard work. Very hard work.
Maybe they're tired. Two of them said as much in their resignations.
Guys in their 50's can't run at the same pace they did at 40. All three
of these guys have been burning the candle at both ends. Maybe they're
getting worried about the wax.
There are simply some men whose ministry can't be limited to any one
place -- the world is their parish" so they increasingly act like
it.
Certainly this is can't be a primary factor any more than you took your
present ministry for money. But money sometimes is an ancillary consideration.
If a guy makes a bundle of money and buys a fancy house as a pastor you
get severely criticized (as Swindoll did). But if you operate a business
-- even a religious one -- and make a bundle, you are simply thought to
be smart. Maybe one or more of these guys wants to become financially independent
before he retires. Its a possibility.
Pastoring grinds one down slowly. Preparing new messages every week.
Making hard decisions. Raising money. Making plans. Pacifying people. Visiting
hospitals (well, maybe not hospital visitation in these cases). And dealing
with the same old people at the same old building, in the same old town.
We forget that the weekly grind is still there for the "big guys."
In a para church ministry you can fly in, drop the record on a perfectly
honed candystick sermon, be treated like a king, then fly out and not have
to deal with the messy stuff of local pastoring. I know this... I do it.
Perhaps the grind just finally got to them.
Has there been a subtle shift in the definition of success over the
last few years? Is serving as a super church pastor no longer the "top
of the heap" in our pyramidal minds? Has pastoring a super church
lost some luster? If it has, some super church pastors may wonder, "Why
kill myself like this if it isn't really impressing anybody that much any
more?"
The largest budgets and staffs are not in local churches. If we use
these secular definitions for success, then the real top bananas are the
men who preside over the para-church and quasi-church ministries. Consider
Pat Robertson who rules a ministry with three million dollars income a
week. A week! Or how about James Dobson. What local church pastor has a
two million a week income a staff of 1300, and spends $163,000 to send
out his midweek?! So, the really big fish in today's pond aren't super
church pastors, but Promisekeepers speakers who have their own organizations.
So even if the definition of "success" is still secular, all
three of these men will be more "successful" outside the local
church.
Super church pastors are usually men of great vision. They are also
men of great impatience. They want things to happen. Now! Sometimes pastors
move on simply because they are not seeing things move as fast as they'd
like. We know this is true or "regular" pastors. But it is also
true of super church pastors. It is always easier to cast a vision than
to complete it. Sometimes (all the time?) the people don't move as fast
as the vision expands. Downsizing a vision is painful work.
Without trying to figure out the human reasons we have all got to accept
the fact that God sometimes calls ministers to do something different.
He has you, right? Maybe God called all three of these guys to get out
of the local church. At least we need to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I've noticed that most ministers explain their own reasons for leaving
by talking about God's leading, but explain other ministers leaving by
suggesting human factors like #1-8 above. God's direct call is a possibility
you've got to allow for in others too. Maybe God calls men to move on,
both because he has other work for these men, and because He wants to make
room for other men (and women) he is raising up. Maybe the half-life of
a super church pastor is shorter than "regular pastors." Maybe
they're like baseball players -- they give their decade or two then go
do something else for the rest for of their lives. If so, I'd say all three
of these guys "played good ball" while they were in the game.
I hate to see them go. However, I'm glad I got to see them play.
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