For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints. – Hebrews 6:10
We all want God to fondly remember our efforts. That is why I love that passage from Hebrews. And that is why I love serving pastors and church leaders. God promises us that He will remember the love we show in serving the saints.
As a member of The Rocket Company, the following are 10 ways that I attempt to show love to and serve pastors and church leaders:
- Start A Conversation – People often come to pastors with suggestions and answers to all their problems. It is far more productive and disarming to start conversations with church leaders prior to making suggestions.
- Tell Their Stories – If you are a regular reader of this site, you know how much I love profiling church leaders and telling what God is doing through their lives. Point to them and promote them.
- Be A Great Listener – The most underrated skill great leaders have is listening skills. Pastors love talking about their churches. Don’t interrupt them.
- Ask Great Questions – Wisdom is found in great questions, not answers. One of my favorite questions to ask church leaders is “Pastor, what issues are you currently facing that you are hoping The Rocket Company can be a solution for?” And then sit back and be a good listener.
- Put Energy Towards Forward Progress – As churches grow, their problems become more complex. Think about it. An amoeba (small, single-cell organism) thinks only of forward progress. Human beings focus on staying alive. You have to move church leaders beyond survival, beyond simply meeting budget. Listen to the church’s mission and vision and then leverage energy towards forward progress.
- Check Your Personal Motives – Today at www.ChurchLeaders.com, Brian Orme wrote these words: “Much like Judas, hucksters have little — or nothing — invested in the spiritual truths they market, and at the end of the day it’s about the popularity and prosperity — not the prosperity of others, but their own. In reality, the religious huckster is a form of atheism — belittling the powerful message of grace with no real belief in a sovereign God.”
- Honor Those Who Refer Others – We do a great job of thanking the new pastors and church leaders we serve. I am about to lead a charge of showing extravagant gratitude to those who refer others. No one should be more valued than those who invite their friends to church and who refer you business.
- Understand What The Christian Community Wants And Needs – In the last 10 years alone, we have seen the explosion of church plants, mutli-sites, the birth and death of the emergent church, and the rise of pastors like Perry Noble and Steven Furtick. The church of Jesus Christ is always moving forward, always advancing, and I must love her enough to grow and change with her while not abandoning my core beliefs.
- Provide Solutions – After listening to pastors, understanding their needs, and hearing their story, there comes a point in every conversation when I say, “Pastor, based upon what you’re saying, here’s what I think we ought to do.” I then ask the pastor if I’m on the right track because I could be wrong. A pastor’s time is too valuable to waste.
- Bring Closure – Pastors and church leaders do not want to sign up for something that never ends. Give them a timeline for when they can realistically expect solutions to take place.
If you do these 10 things, you will be a person who shows pastors and church leaders love and serves them well.
I would like to hear from pastors and church leaders on this one. What are other things people can do to serve you? And pastors, if you haven’t signed up for the free online preaching conference shown below, click the image and get registered today.
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