Pastors, Feed His Sheep!
Before I even begin this, let me say, I am not the example when it comes to being a pastor, I have fallen short, and it is only by the grace of God that any fruit would come from any ministry or church the Lord would have me oversee. That being said, I am currently finishing up my MBA. And though I do believe this degree will assist me when I return to vocational ministry, there are current trends that I see in the church that I think have come from adapting to much of a business mindset amongst some leadership. What do I mean by that? Primarily that in business, the goal is customer satisfaction! It was only the second week of my first class in my MBA program where these statements were made: business is about pragmatism and it is customer-centric. To summarize, this means whatever works to satisfy the customer. This is largely the attitude we see in churches today.
More and more, churches are departing orthodoxy in lieu of customer-centric pragmatism. Whatever works to get people in the door and keep them in their seats. The result is that more thought goes into things like the decor, the music, the lights, the kids programs, the type of coffee that is served, and the type of t-shirts or nametags all the volunteers will wear, than given to what is being preached from the pulpit. Unfortunately, this has led to churches that look great, sound great, and take great care of the kids, while starving the sheep of what they need most, His Word. In some cases, it's not that the word isn't preached, it's just not preached well, and in the worst cases the word is used only as a jumping off point from where the speaker will inevitably tell you how wonderful you are and why his god wants you to live your best life now!
In John chapter 21, there is this wonderful dialogue between Jesus and the Apostle Peter, where Jesus tells Peter three times, to feed or tend His sheep. He doesn't say, entertain, He doesn't say, get them in the door, or make them feel comfortable, He says, feed them. I've heard some pastors say to their people upon being confronted on this subject, "how about you feed yourself?" If this is you, if you've been told this, perhaps your pastor doesn't understand his role properly. I humbly encourage you to challenge him in love, and to take him to the word of God. Because pastors are to model themselves after the good shepherd, the one who leads us beside still waters and causes us to lay down in green pastures. In other words, He makes sure the sheep are fed, and us as under-shepherds are to do the same. The words spoken to Peter may as well have been spoken to every pastor, everywhere and at all times.
As leaders our pulpit ministry is the primary means by which the sheep are fed. If we allow this ministry to fall to the sidelines the sheep will starve, or the true sheep will seek pasture elsewhere as they look to follow the Good Shepherds voice. If you are a pastor reading this, I humbly ask you to remember that your people, those whom God has place under your care, are sheep, not customers. You cannot build a church around business principles, because the church is not a business. Yes, I think we must be smart and business savvy when it comes to church administration, and other areas, but when it comes to what we must excel in, and what we are primarily about, on that there is no negotiating. The further we go from His Word, from preaching and teaching His Word, and if we allow ourselves to be pragmatists and customer-centric, the less we look like His bride and more we look like starved fools. Pastors, do you love the Good Shepherd? Then feed His sheep!