Relationship: Life According to God’s Priorities

The Need

• 42% of pastors seriously considered quitting the ministry in the last year.
  
  • Reason #1: The immense stress of the job
  • Reason #2: Lonely and isolated
  • Reason #3: Current political divisions
  • Reason #4: Unhappy with what it has done to family
  • Reason #5: Not optimistic about the church’s future
• 75:1 is the standard ratio for a church’s members to a full-time staff.
  
  • The more people there are in a church, the more needs must be covered.
  • Certain staff members run the risk of oversaturation without a plan to care for all the people. 
• 90% of pastors say they work 55-75 hours a week.
  
  • A schedule like this is unsustainable even for the most skillful ministers.
  • Without adequate rest, a pastor’s health and family are at risk.
• Once a church building is at 80% capacity, people stop attending.
  
  • While people desire a church to grow, there is a limit regarding size and structure.
  • Without a plan for healthy growth, a church will plateau or decline.

The Word: 1 Timothy 3:1-7

3 This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.” 2 An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy.4 He must manage his own household competently and have his children under control with all dignity. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and incur the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the devil’s trap.

• If a pastor’s competency gets him somewhere that his character can’t keep him, he won’t have a church for long.
• Certain qualities must be present in the life of a pastor, or no one will listen to him.
• If you lose your family, you have lost your ministry.
• Without a clear path to caring for God’s church, the load will burn out individuals and break down congregations.

The Task

• Relationships are vital to ministry success.
  
  • Relationship with Jesus
    
    • If you don’t want to lead from last year’s lessons, ensure your walk is currently vibrant.
  • Relationship with Your Spouse
    
    • Don’t abandon your marriage for the mistress of ministry.
  • Relationship with Your Kids
    
    • Children who take a back seat to ministry will take the first exit ramp from the church.
  • Relationship with Friends
    
    • If you preach that others need community, you must experience that reality yourself.
  • Relationship with Members
    
    • Don’t act as if you are your church’s messiah or messenger boy.