Many years ago, when I was a kid, my dad gave me a Swiss Army Knife for my birthday. That red handled knife was more than just a pocketknife, it was a multi-tool. Mine had knife blades, a saw, a file, screwdriver, can opener, and more. It even had a little toothpick and tweezer. I loved that knife and I still take it on every camping trip because of how it can do so many things. As a hunter, it is not the knife I would choose to butcher a deer or elk, and if I need to work on my car, I can find a much stronger screwdriver in my tool box, but when it is all I have, it can accomplish a lot.
Before I became a missionary, I was a pastor at three different churches in Canada. They ranged in size from 75 people to over two hundred, but none of them were large enough to have more than a couple of people on staff. I had to lead and serve the church by myself.
While there are a lot of big churches that host a full complement of pastors and staff, specializing in various aspects of ministry, the reality is that most pastors are in smaller churches where they are called upon and often expected to do a little bit of everything.
Just like that shiny red pocketknife, they must be multi-purpose pastors.
After more than three decades of ministry in three different countries, I have put together a list of ten helpful tips for multi-purpose pastors. Each one of us is created unique and special. You may have another list of great tips from your experience, and I would love to hear them.
10 Helpful Tips for Multi-Purpose Pastors:
1. Always remember that God chose you and called you to be the pastor of your church.
He has placed you there for a reason and you are exactly the pastor that your church needs today. I had to find confidence in knowing that God is sovereign, and he is in control of my life and my church. He has placed me here to accomplish his purpose. I need to trust him and be faithful to my calling. This leads me to the second point. (Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13-15)
2. The tenth commandment tells us to not covet.
Pastors, we struggle with this a lot. We may not be coveting our neighbor’s wife or house, but we are easily entrapped in the sin of coveting our neighbor’s church. Social media doesn’t help. It is easy for us to see other churches online, see their beautiful buildings, their amazing programs, large congregations, and well-paid pastors. This is like pornography for pastors, and we are not faithful to our own congregation if we are coveting another. We must be content where God has led us and give ourselves fully to our own church. (Exodus 20:17)
3. Recognize that we all need help.
Pastor, the multipurpose knife can do a lot of things but not everything. We need to learn to delegate and ask for help. When I was a younger pastor, I had people leave my church because they were not able to serve and develop their gifts of leadership, because I though I needed to do everything. I was compelled to be the first person at the church and the last one to close the door. I led the services and spoke at everything. I thought it was my duty to lead and be “the chief”. I have learned that my duty was to “equip the saints” so they could lead and serve the body. This was a hard lesson to learn but when I finally figured it out, I went from leading a church to multiplying disciples and leaders who could go on and lead other churches. (Ephesians 4:11-15)
4. Be comfortable with yourself.
This is a bit of a repeat of the first three points, but I run into a lot of pastors who want to be like Tim Keller, John Piper, or Andy Stanley. Remember point number one above: God knows you and he chose you to serve where you are. God does not expect us to be anyone other than who he made us to be. Admiration can easily turn to Idolatry if we are focused more on being like another pastor than learning from them how to be the best version of ourselves. It’s not bad to have great models who inspire us, but ultimately our goal is to be more like Christ. Remember, your church needs you! (Ephesians 5:1)
5. Remember that you are accountable to God first!
There are many times when a pastor feels like he is reporting to fifty or more bosses in his church, especially in churches with congregational church government. However, whether the direct accountability is to the congregation, to the board, to a bishop or someone else, our ultimate accountability is to God. We are entrusted to be shepherds of his church and, as such, we report to him. I remember many times when different people in my church had different expectations of me. I could not do everything that was requested, and I could not be everywhere that I was invited. It is easy to allow power, and position, to dictate who has the most control or influence over our lives and ministry, but we must remain faithful to the Lord, his calling and his leading in our lives. We are accountable to him before men. (2 Corinthians 5:10, Matthew 18:6, James 3:1)
The first five points relate to our attitude and acceptance of God’s calling in our life. The remaining points relate to things we can do to be the most effective multi-purpose pastors possible.
6. Pastors must strive to keep their priorities balanced.
When my wife and I were in our seventh year of marriage we had that heart breaking conversation where she said that she wanted to leave me because she felt that the church was more important to me than she was. Ouch, that hurt! My guess is that many of you have had similar conversations with your wives over the years. Pastors, it is easy to confuse our dedication to our work with our dedication to God. Following God must be our first and primary priority in life, but our work is a separate priority, one that needs to follow behind the priority of our family. Too many pastors have sacrificed their marriages and their relationships with their children on the altar of church growth. Pastors, listen to me here. Nothing you do in your church is more important than what you do for your wife and your children. I now think of my wife and children as the most important people in my ministry. They are the ones God gave to me and I am directly accountable to him for them. For the past 25 years, I have placed a high priority on loving my wife and discipling my sons to be great men, husbands, fathers, leaders, and followers of Jesus. (Proverbs 22:6, 1 Timothy 3:51 Timothy 5:8)
7. Pray and Trust the Lord daily.
With all the demands on a pastor’s time and talents, we must pray for wisdom and discernment daily and trust the voice of God. When we face great challenges, many of us are tempted to depend on our strengths, wisdom, education, position, and experience to find solutions or guide others. It is in these challenging times that we need to lean into the Lord. Pastors must spend time in the word and time with the Lord every day so they can hear his voice and direction. There is a lot of noise in our lives and it is easy to be persuaded by the loudest and strongest voices, but we are called to trust the Lord and not to lean on our own understanding. Anyone can do strategic thinking and offer great advice, but pastors are called to shepherd God’s flock. That requires spiritual leadership that can only come from a close walk with the Lord. (Proverbs 3:5-6, Colossians 1:3-5, Psalm 1)
8. Practice keeping a Sabbath.
This one seems like a conflict for pastors who always work on the weekend, but that doesn’t have to stop us from practicing the Sabbath. In the New Testament, we find our true rest in Jesus, not in keeping a Sabbath law, however, the practice of setting aside a day of the week for rest and worship is promoted in the New Testament and we see several instances where Jesus went away from the crowds to pray and rest. I always observed Monday as my “Sabbath.” I protected Mondays from any encroachments of my regular work. It was set apart for rest, refreshment, and family. As my sons grew up and had busy school schedules, we would be creative to set aside time as a family without any work distractions. People will come to us with urgent needs and emergencies and will expect us to be available, but it is very rare that a “crisis” cannot wait for a day. When we observe a sabbath as pastors, we demonstrate to our congregation that our relationship with God, our obedience to him, and our relationship and commitment to our family is a sacred priority. Even God took a day to rest after creation. (Genesis 1:1-2:3, Exodus 20:8, Matthew 28:1, Hebrews 4:9, Matthew 14:23, Luke 5:16)
9. Be authentic.
There was a time when pastors were held up in the community as holy servants of God. They were expected to live perfect lives, have perfect families, and never be tempted by the evil one. In truth, pastors are normal flesh and bones people just like everyone else and our lives are not perfect. We struggle like everyone else, and we give in to temptation sometimes and sin. The church today needs authentic leaders who are honest and humble. I find it easier to relate and learn from my pastor when he shares how he struggles with some of the same things that I struggle with. I can pray more specifically for my pastor and his family when I understand that challenges that they live with. Paul recognized his sins and failures and he spoke with honesty, integrity, and humility. Pastors, we should do the same. (Romans 3:23, 1 Timothy 1:15, Romans 7:14-25, 1 Corinthians 12:1-10)
10. Whose Church is it?
As pastors we often refer to our church as if it belongs to us. In fact, I have referred to the church in this article as “mine” or “yours” and that is OK. But we must remember that the church is the Bride of Christ. It is church. We should not deceive ourselves in thinking that the church belongs to us or that it is our possession in any way. We have been entrusted as shepherds to watch and care for the flock, but the flock belongs to God. I can not stress this point enough. The church that you are leading today belongs to Jesus Christ. It is his bride. We must treat the church as the Bride. It is our responsibility to prepare the bride for the bridegroom’s return. It may be a subtle nuance, but it is an important distinction if we are to be the type of pastors God wants us to be. (2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:24, Revelation 19:7-9; 21:1-2)
In Conclusion
As I started this article, I stated that these were ten of the tips or perspectives that have helped me shape my ministry over the past three decades. These were lessons that I learned from the Lord through his word and sometimes through my mentors, teachers, and pastors. I have shared these with thousands of pastors and leaders through the years and I believe they have helped to develop many great multi-purpose pastors. Perhaps the Lord has given you a list of perspectives that have helped you grow and develop in your ministry. I encourage you to share your lessons with the leaders in your circles of influence - in this way, iron can continue to sharpen iron, and we may all be better equipped to shepherd the flock entrusted to our care.
Dr. Craig Kraft is the Director for Global Collaboration for the OC Global Alliance. Craig and his wife Heather have pastored in Canada and served as missionaries and trainers of pastors for over three decades and in multiple countries. Craig and Heather’s boys have all grown up and started their own families and all are continuing to walk with the Lord and serve as God leads them.