Updated Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Where are all the pastors?

By David B. Cox

The vast majority of Southern Baptist churches and pastors are shining lights in a very dark world, lifting high the mighty name of Jesus. One of the strong points of community testimony for many churches is the witness of a people and a pastor who are linked at the heart for kingdom purposes. What is a pastor to do, however, when he finds himself being forced out by a church or terminated as a result of church controversy?

An epidemic of forced pastoral terminations has developed in our denomination that are the result, not of moral or even theological issues, but differences in perspectives, styles, values and traditions. Mission becomes secondary, giving way to church politics and stifling opinions.

As a result, thousands of Southern Baptist pastors and ministers have found themselves on the raw end of a church controversy or political scenario that has left many of them and their families just one step short of the "streets" and scrambling to piece together their lives. Furthermore, the damage it can create to children, spouses, and esteem for all can be nothing short of devastating.

Nationwide, about one-third (34 percent) of all pastors surveyed serve a congregation who terminated their previous pastor or who were themselves forced from their last pastoral ministry. In the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) alone, assuming that trends discovered by LifeWay research from seven years ago are still relatively similar, about 1,000 pastors will be force-terminated in calendar year 2008. This is a trend that has continued for nearly two and one-half decades. That's a staggering 25,000 forced pastoral terminations since the early 1980's. So where have all those pastors gone? Many have walked away from the church for good. According to the same LifeWay study, 45 percent have not returned to the pulpit. Rather, they have chosen a different vocation altogether.

I offer a word of encouragement to those whose lives have been devastated by these scorching trials. First, God is faithful. His name is faithful (Rev. 19:11). His character is the same. He still loves you and has not abandoned you. He never leaves or forsakes His children even when He allows them to endure pain, suffering, or persecution for His name's sake.

Second, you can lose your head even when attempting to be completely faithful and obedient. John the Baptizer had his head served on a platter to a wicked king because he preached the word of God without compromise. How about Joseph, or Job or Stephen? Consider Jesus. The biblical record is clear: obedience to God does not carry with it an exemption card that turns back wickedness or trial.

In a similar vein, the results of obedience don't always make sense. When you have sacrificed your all on the altar of ministry for Christ just to have the ecclesiastical rug abruptly pulled from under you feet, "consider it not strange." Servants have never understood all that their masters know. And God our Father and Master has already told us that His purposes and ways are not the same as ours, nor are His thoughts. (Isa. 55:9).

Next, be reminded that good does not always triumph over evil ... in your church, your situation, or even in your lifetime. It does eventually, but you may or may not see it with your own eyes. Rest in God's sovereignty.

Fourth, make an intentional effort to refute the notion that you are a loser. It is tempting to equate job-performance or results with publicly perceived success or failure. You are who you are in Christ not because your church was the fastest-growing in the association or because you baptized a certain number every year.

Additionally, it is meritorious to remember that everyone is human and the church, in spite of all frailties and difficulties, is still the Body of Christ. Because we are people, we often fall short of God's glory and we also fall short in our relationships with each other within the church context. Expectations and standards are different for all. Traditions vary. Vision and leadership styles and priorities are not the same for all. Satan often works overtime to exploit these differences. At the end of the day, a forced termination forces a (human) pastor to make a gut-wrenching examination of his own heart to see if spiritual adjustments might be in order. Because they, too, are human, lay church leaders do well to do likewise when they have forced such a termination.

Finally, what about your future? Who's to say that the peak of your ministerial career is in the rearview mirror? For many, your best for Christ is yet in front of you. Your ministry vision may be blinded by pain so that you can't see it now, but it's true. The problem, however, is that if you quit you will never realize what God was going to do next. Do not give away the authority of your call from God to anyone. If the Lord called you then your call is divinely ordained and just as valid today whether you "have a church" or not. Look ahead; refuse to quit. Take time off for healing. Be honest about the reality of the need for time regarding family reconstruction. Consult godly counselors and prayer partners. Then reinvest yourself in Christian ministry.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - Cox grew up the son a life-time Southern Baptist pastor and has served several SBC churches as senior pastor, church planter, and student pastor. He and his family reside in Raleigh.)