Ideals for Pastoral Leadership by Example

We tend to talk about pastoral leadership as an abstract. When we do try to get specific it often comes down to little more than admonitions to be nice. I also suspect that we have sometimes had the false notion that leadership and ethical ideals might become obvious by implications of the Gospel so we shouldn’t have to talk about them. In fact, they don’t and we do.

The first thing I think we should notice is that the clearest admonition for pastoral leadership is likely St. Paul’s admonition to St. Timothy that he “be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim 4:12, NKJ). Pastoral leadership lacks the prevalent tools of business and the military: rewards and threats. We can’t give bonuses or fire people. To be sure we should be kind and gentle, but that is not the end of it. We need specific instructions and ideals. We don’t only tell our congregation what is good and ethical, even what is nice, we also demonstrate it in our actions.

What follows is what I consider to be the ideals that pastors should seek to embody. These ideals are going to hurt some feelings. It is almost inevitable that some will jump right to them without reading this caveat and then scream “legalism” and “insensitivity.” But I am putting them out there anyway.

They will look somewhat different in each situation and sometimes radically different. No one is capable of all of this. Some will be off the table for many or perhaps not even apply. Nonetheless, I think the ideals matter. These are driven by the virtue lists in the New Testament and the 10 commandments. Articulating them helps us to think about them and also to strive for them. Again, this will be distinct based upon our families, limitations, and peculiar crosses. We should not use them to judge one another, but we should use them, or something like them, as a way of knowing what we are reaching for, of what we were meant for, and, in some sense, what we will be when we are perfected in the resurrection.

Here is an example. God has burdened some people with physical blindness. That cross does not remove the general goodness of sight or its use for the Kingdom. Imagine that the ideal was that the pastor is involved in the church’s decoration. If this were a Biblical ideal a blind pastor would not be free of it, but he would respond to it differently than a seeing pastor. The ideals below include things like “physical fitness” and “a great number of children” not as a precise standard but rather a general principle of what is good. I urge the readers to ponder them even if they accuse or wound and not simply to dismiss them because they are difficult.

I think that we need a list like this because we all have holes in our knowledge and training. I have found a number of pastors who, because they consider themselves to be underpaid, do not tither. They don’t try to give the widow’s mite. They don’t see that as an ideal and somehow no one ever talked to them about stewardship. Because of this they don’t strive for it. It is not deliberate, it is just ignorance. In a similar way, I have heard pastors claiming that since they spend so much time studying God’s Word they do not need to have family devotions or go to Church when they are on vacation. It is harder to see this as ignorance, but perhaps it is. In both cases, why would they expect their parishioners to tithe or to come to church on their days off if they themselves don’t? Of course, they should just do it because they are Christians, but they would also do it because they're examples and called to lead.

With that caveat, below is my list, which could no doubt be expanded and improved, of what I think we are supposed to be striving for.

Ideals for Pastoral Example

At Home:

Wife and many children, Daily family devotions, Fiscally responsible, Home ready and welcome for visitors, Sabbath-taking

At Church:

Tithe, Daily worship and Bible reading (attend all services), Attend Church on vacation, Pitch in with menial tasks like cleaning and maintenance

With Members:

Know their names and something about them, Quick to respond, Aware of visitors, Avoid favoritism, Conscious of their sorrows

In the Community:

Paragon of virtue, Well-groomed, Engaged in acts of mercy and evangelism, Wholesome hobbies

In Self:

Physically fit, Disciplined with screens, Regular use of private confession and absolution, Active prayer life with intercessory prayer