3 Things I Wish For Every Pastor
By Raul Rivera
When I talk to pastors during our Ultimate Church Structure™ conferences, I am often asked a question that goes something like this: "What advice can you give me that will make me a better pastor?" That question may mean a variety of things to different pastors. To some, it means, "What advice can you give me to help my church grow?" To others, it means, "How can I keep my heart in proper alignment with God as my ministry grows?" Though the question may have various meanings according to the pastor asking, I think they ask a question that is common to the heart of every man and woman. At the heart of the question, I believe I find people wanting to know three things.
1. Am I going to make it?
2. Is my church going to make it?
3. If my church does succeed will my heart stay pure?
I feel that I am able to answer that question with confidence because I, too, asked the Lord those same questions at a time when no one knew me or cared enough to reach out to me to encourage me in my endeavor. Like you, I want to know that no matter what happens, I will endure to the end and that no matter how much I succeed, His presence will always be the one thing that captivates my heart more than any other. While the answer to their question can be long, I have narrowed it down to three things, as described below.
1. Wisdom: Proverbs 4:7 tells us, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom." Wisdom is foremost. It is the one thing in life that every pastor needs to seek. Wisdom is the foundation to all of the successes in one's life. I have personally known many a man with great amounts of knowledge, but lacking wisdom. It seemed that they were always succeeding up to a certain point, but what they were able to build with knowledge their lack of wisdom eventually destroyed. A man of wisdom seeks to maintain a tender and humble heart before God above all things. Simply put, as I say when I close my conferences, "If you want your ministry to go well, then you must love God well and also love people well." Without wisdom, you cannot do those two.
2. Confidence: There is a remarkable difference in the culture of a church whose pastor preaches with confidence. I am not talking about arrogance, which pastors often confuse with confidence. I am talking about the confidence that comes when a man walks in compliance with the laws of God and the laws of man. When a man seeks to walk in full compliance with the laws of God, he is not owned by anyone. In other words, he is able to keep the fear of man in check. Moreover, when a man walks in compliance with the laws of man, he has nothing to fear when he lays his head down each night. It is often that I have had conversations with ministers that lose sleep because as their churches grow, non-compliance with the laws of man grows. Think about your church today. If 100 new people were added overnight, would your church's legal and administrative structure be able to keep them? Not possessing the confidence to answer a resounding "Yes" leads to decreasing confidence and decreased ability to be the best leader you can be.
3. Strategy: A pastor that understands how to strategize understands where his/her church is planted and how to best go about reaching the maximum number of people. This requires strategy. It is a path that you mark and to which you then adhere. When I pastored a church, I knew that because of the seasonal area I was in, the tithes and offerings of the church would always be limited in dollar amount. The average income of my church was between $250.00 and $400.00 per week. I knew that if we wanted to maximize our outreach potential, we would have to find a different way to increase our revenue. That is why our church started a separate and secular community development corporation and raised money through it by securing grants. It was a strategy that paid off. We reached hundreds and even thousands of people every year without having to dip into our general fund. Today that church, under the leadership of a successor pastor, continues that same strategy. He has taken it to new levels, feeding hundreds of families each week and distributing clothes. The idea behind it is, "Let them see our good works that they may glorify our Father in heaven."
Over the years of doing ministry, by serving pastors through our StartRIGHT™, StayRIGHT™, and even GetRIGHT™ programs, we have developed a comprehensive strategy that we call the Ultimate Church Structure™. This is a strategy we formulated by creating a multi-tiered corporate structure designed to protect the assets of the church from today's litigious society and by increasing the church's ability to really preach the gospel without compromise. Additionally it also leverages the church's First Amendment protections and increases its cash flow by the creation of two additional income streams.
When a pastor takes the time to strategize, God will be faithful to give a plan. The key is to stick to it. In Mark 4:26 and 27 it says, "Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don't get sidetracked" (NLT).
Not just a preacher
When I think about the world of ministry and how it has evolved over the years, pastors are no longer just preachers and counselors. They are also CEO's of corporations that must operate their ministries under applied business wisdom in order to succeed. That is we do the Ultimate Church Structure™ Conference approximately 40 times a year. I want to impart into folks a message that was born in my heart through my personal life experiences. I got to experience the Lord increase my capacity for stewardship. I believe He can do it in you.