The Last Long-Sigh of Summer and the Leadership Questions it Provokes

As a pastor, I always discovered August to be self-evaluation month. Others had carried the yeoman’s load of church activity during the months of June and July. A high percentage of families had been away on vacation, and my pastoral load was proportionally lighter. It was time to take a breath, take in some summer sun and enjoy the few less strenuous weeks. Then it was August, time once more for some honest personal inventory and reflection.

With September just on the horizon, there was the certainty of a radical uptake in church activity and responsibility. Every year, I faced that fact with certainty, with both anticipation and dread: anticipation as to what possibly could be, dread because I knew ‘the buck’ stopped on my desk. I had been chosen to be the catalyst for whatever was ahead. It was a time of soul-searching. If I were to re-engage in shepherding the mainstream of church activity for another 9 months, I must start off on the ‘right foot.’  That required some honest self-talk.

Here are some of the questions I grappled with:

1. Was my personal, daily devotional walk with God my priority? I realized that I could not lead the congregation any deeper spiritually than I had gone. My own life experience must verify my messages. It was hypocrisy to expect or demand from others what I was unwilling to give. There were times when business would threaten to push aside godliness. I understood that was a ‘set-up’ for leadership failure.

2. Was my faith meter for new, next-level, breakthrough possibilities in the months ahead registering high? I could not lead a congregation into faith ventures that held no excitement and anticipation for me. The pastor is the person who leads the church in an effective mission. Excitement is contagious, but so is mediocrity.

3. Was there any new, innovative, persistent direction into which the Lord was asking me to lead the congregation?  If I were satisfied with the ‘status quo,’ the church would be satisfied with ‘plateau.’ But the church was meant to be a living organism, whose health is only maintained on the cusp of growth. I was either pressing on the vanguard of that growth or creating an obstacle in the way of it.

4. Were there any residual issues in the church that, as a leader, I needed to address before entering a new ministry season? What do we need to embrace that we are avoiding, and what do we need to leave behind that shackles us? Most leaders are reticent to engage in ‘fierce conversations.’ Yet, forthrightness and honesty are necessary if growth incentives are to be added or impediments to growth removed. It’s tough but essential. Great pastoral leadership owns the responsibility of facing issues with courage.

5. How was the health of my family and home? The pastor/parent who places church involvement ahead of spouse and children denies the first necessary proving ground for effective ministry. The home is the first mission field. As a pastor, one is first of all a priest or priestess in one’s own home. It is easy to skew that truth.

   Looking back on the last quarter of my life. I remember with much greater acuity the precious times than the seemingly endless hours spent with Boards and Committees. I recognize in retrospect that I was far more important in the life and development of my family than I was in my congregation. Effective in God’s house mirrored effectiveness in my own.

6. Was it time for a change for me? It was important that I was not asking this question from the perspective of discouragement or defeatism. Ministry life goes in chapters. Chapters end and new ones begin as the Lord leads, directs and re-directs. I needed to be open to that re-direction possibility. This was a pivotal question. A pastor, no matter how stellar, does not benefit a congregation by leaving before he/she should, but neither does one serve a congregation well by staying beyond the God-appointed time. I could neither afford to stay unless the divine mandate was renewed in my spirit. I could not afford to go if I knew the Lord was recommissioning me where I was. I had to ascertain that I was not engaged with this congregation simply because of positional benefits or job security. 

   Mainly because of my willingness to honestly engage in this exercise, the Lord allowed me the privilege of serving Him in one place for long periods.

Now the Summation

“To thine own self be true.”

— Polonius to his son Laertes in ‘Shakespeare’s Hamlet

I encourage you this August to ask the above questions of yourself and your own leadership. Only when you can answer them truthfully will you be ready for God’s next for you and the ministry you superintend.

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