The myth of the swiss-army-knife pastor

Have you ever been in one of those meetings where a church is looking to recruit a new pastor, and the leadership opens it up to the whole church family to share their priorities for what they think should be sought in a candidate?

It would be an understatement to say the list can get quite long, quite quickly! For some, it’s preaching; for others, a love of evangelism; for some, administrative strength; and for yet others, pastoral warmth and the ability to handle complex, nuanced situations. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!

Before you know it, the list becomes unmanageable and unrealistic, and you’re unlikely to find anyone who comes even halfway to what you’re after.

Something very similar can easily happen in the church-planting world. Last time, we thought about the need to find our people (we were never meant to be islands!). This time, that idea will be underlined and emphasised, as the most common reason pastors give for their church plant struggling to thrive (75%) is that they did not have all the necessary gifts and abilities to make it succeed.

Through the process, they realised their own deficiencies and shortcomings. And yet, very often, the ‘ideal’ planter/pastor is seen as the omnicompetent, all-singing, all-dancing generalist who can cover most things pretty well - the 'Swiss-Army Penknife' - of pastor/planters. But I wonder if, very often, we’re going about it all wrong.

Pressure to pretend

If the expectation is for a 'Swiss-Army Penknife' Planter, the pressure can be to pretend that, in fact, you are one. Rather than having the humility to admit where we’re deficient and ask for help from others, we may give the impression that we don’t need them. Add to that the tendency toward getting the job done, and it can be hard to ask for help. And you can see why! The church family may be small and only have one paid member of staff - it’s not unreasonable to expect the planter to do the lion’s share. But then, as the church grows and flourishes? Continuing to attempt self-sufficiency, rather than leaning on and training others, will quickly lead to burnout and exhaustion.

Planter, be honest early. Share with your church family where you need them. Be open about your deficiencies. You are you. God has made you and given you the gifts you have, but you don’t have everything - and anyway, you only have 168 hours in the week. You need others. This church plant was never meant to be about you.

What does this practically mean? It means, first of all, knowing yourself (how has the Lord made you?) but also having a humble posture that acknowledges you need a team, and so prayerfully recruiting or training others who can complement you. Give away responsibility and opportunities for service. It may even mean slowing down and patiently, prayerfully delaying the launch of the plant to find those who will complement you.