Primary Commitments for Pastoral Competency

As the veteran apostle wrote his letter to his son in the faith, Paul stressed many important truths to Timothy on how to lead a church as a young man. As one of the so-called Pastoral Epistles, 1 Timothy has become critically important for pastors of every age.

A verse that every pastor knows well is 1 Timothy 4:16. It says, "Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you." I distinctly remember when this verse became a sobering thought as I was praying about the prospect of becoming a senior pastor. I was confronted with the fact that, as a pastor of any kind, but especially as a senior pastor, it would be vital that I pay close attention to my life and doctrine. It isn't only for the sake of being a good pastor. According to this verse eternal lives are in the balance... including my own. So, I decided to write down some non-negotiables for watching my life and doctrine in ministry. I have entitled them Primary Commitments for Pastoral Competency. Here they are:

Daily

Time in God's Word.

There is nothing that can supersede or supplant the need for personal time with God in scripture. Every day my goal is to spend time (ideally unhurried time) with God reading His Word devotionally. This does not include time spent reading and studying for sermon preparation. This is not about work, but rather about a personal relationship with God. (Psalm 1:1-3)

Time With God in Prayer.

Accordingly, specific time in prayer is essential. Praying throughout the day is good, but it should not replace deliberate time spent talking to God about life. If I want God to work in my life, it only makes sense that I talk to Him about my life. If I trust that He cares about me, my family members, and my church members, then I must cast my cares on Him. (1 Peter 5:7)

Time With Family and Staff.

Connecting with my family and my staff is the third focus I have on a daily basis. These are my closest proximity relationships, so I cannot hope to flourish if these relationships are not a part of my primary investment. Notice there is a hierarchy. The Lord comes first, then my family, then my ministry staff. There are many other relationships beyond these, but these are the ones that I must give the most of my energy to, because it is in the context of these closest relationships that most of my life happens. To neglect them is to neglect my life. (Ecclesiastes 4:7-12)

Weekly

Intentionally Listen to a Sermon.

I believe that reading God's Word is of first importance to know God and walk in His will. But I believe a very close second is to hear God's Word preached. The preaching of the Word has always been very instrumental in my life. God has used His proclaimed Word many many times to work in profound ways in my heart. From my calling to ministry, to growing in spiritual maturity, to overcoming deep sorrow and depression... when the Word is proclaimed, God is working. And as a senior pastor, hearing the Word preached is seldom, since you are the one doing the preaching each Sunday. But, thankfully, there are many incredible resources online and via podcast for listening to good, biblical preaching. I still need that.

Dinners With Family.

The goal is to have dinners at home more often than away; and not in a hurried, absent sort of way. There are too many horror stories of workaholics sacrificing their families on the altar of work, and they always include a lack of time at the dinner table. There are clearly many ways one can neglect one's family, but it often starts by missing way too many meals. I want my family to see that they are my priority, and we will prove that we love each other simply by taking the time to sit together and eat a meal with those we love the most.

Exercise 3 Days a Week.

It is anecdotally known that pastors tend to eat out a lot... it is also anecdotally known that pastors tend to be terribly unhealthy. Many times the stress of the job of shepherding others' souls can lead to poor health. Whatever the cause, being a pastor often wears the body out. So it is vital to take some small measures to maintain a healthy body. Spiritual discipline is better than physical discipline (1 Timothy 4:8 ), but that is not an excuse to be undisciplined and lazy about physical health.

Extended Times of Study.

Reading, sermon prep, and writing are a major part of the job of a pastor. A great article that discusses this can be found here. If a pastor is to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:12-16), then he most be equipping himself through study and teaching. He must constantly be going through his own "continued education."

Connect With a Church Member.

To lead the people one must love the people. To love the people one must know the people. The only way to do that is to connect with them. The ideal and best way to connect with people is by talking with them over good food. Thankfully, I eat multiple times a day (I hope you do too), so it is a wise thing to try and schedule at least one time a week with one of my church members to go enjoy a good meal and talk about life and faith together. Unfortunately, that is not always possible with the busy pace of people's lives. But what I find is that it never hurts to make a phone call. And while that is not my preferred method of connection, it is preferred over no connection at all. So the best thing to do in our busy lives is to get people on the schedule. It's great when those random, last-minute meetings work out, but that should not be our normal modus operandi.

Monthly

Dates With My Wife.

God expects me to love my wife the way Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25-33). Part of that is spending specific time alone with her for the sake of investing in our love. I am a failure in every other arena in my life if I fail to live out my love for her. Unfortunately, that is sometimes the case. But, thankfully, she is the most gracious and humble wife who loves me, forgives me, and motivates me to want to more consistently and sacrificially choose to love her. May the Lord keep our love strong till death do us part.

Time With Each Child Individually.

It can be easy to lose sight of raising your own children in the fear and admonition of the Lord when you are constantly focused on the spiritual health of people outside of your family. It can even be easy to neglect relationships with them, because you are always focused on relationships away from home. This can never be allowed. One simple way to help prevent this is to make special one-on-one time with each child. Children need to know their father loves them. We prove our love with our time and actions.

Read an Entire Book.

Theoretically this objective should be accomplished by my weekly times of study. But theory does not always become reality. So having the specific challenge of reading at least one book a month is a helpful redundancy. Compared to some, this goal seems minimal, but I want to set achievable goals for myself. Others might find themselves able to read many books a month. That's wonderful. My main goal is to ensure that I don't read zero.

Regular Basis- Ongoing and Intentional

Meet for Discipleship.

Personal growth is paramount for pastoral fidelity (1 Timothy 4:16). Having someone who can be like a Paul in my life will help safeguard me from myself. Besides, why wouldn't you want someone in your life to help you become more like Jesus? The only reason would be if you had something to hide. Which is all the more a reason to have a discipleship relationship with someone. But this goes both ways. I also want to be like Paul for someone else who is growing in the faith. The ideal would be for this to all be accomplished in one discipleship group (D-Group) meeting on a regular basis.

Connect With and Equip Leaders.

A general who has untrained officers will soon regret it. Likewise, a pastor who does not seek to equip and train ministry leaders in the church will suffer for it. Therefore, pastors must have some sort of ongoing connection to their leaders in the church as well as a strategy for equipping them.

Discuss Vision and Direction With Ministry Staff.

The vision and direction of the ministries of the church should all be synchronized. We are one local, gathered body of believers rather than a collection of Christian ministries. So all the ministry staff should work together in unity to understand and achieve the overall vision and mission of the church. Regularly talking about the vision of the church and reminding each other what the mission truly is helps us to remain faithful and to grow in creative ways to accomplish the task God has given us.

Annually

Staff Retreat.

A failure to plan is a plan to fail. So, planning out the church calendar a year in advance is a wise step. This is one objective of a yearly staff retreat. The other is to invest in those relationships and encourage and equip one another as ministry leaders. This must obviously be ongoing throughout the year, but having a retreat of some kind can help highlight those things and help reinvigorate people in their leadership.

Reading of Pastoral Epistles.

The Pastoral Epistles are 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. These were letters written by the Apostle Paul to younger pastors, and they focus largely on how pastors should lead churches. Spending deliberate time in these letters will help keep pastors properly calibrated for their calling.

Personal Retreat.

Many of the men in pastoral ministry whom I respect the most have encouraged and practice the discipline of taking a yearly personal retreat for the purpose of prayer and reflection. It is necessary to get away from every distraction and simply spend ample time with the Lord. Jesus did this all the time, so why shouldn't we?

Conclusion

This is not a finalized list. Nor have I mastered all (if any) of these items. But this is my goal. I will aim to keep all of these non-negotiables to the best of my ability, and may God grow me as I do. As these commitments encourage and challenge me, I hope they also encourage and challenge you. Don't worry about checking off the list perfectly. Just start somewhere and see where God takes you!