A Pastor's Worst Nightmare: Lessons From Acts 20

a Pastor's Worst Nightmare: Lessons from Acts 20.

After spending many years in Ephesus the Holy Spirit prompts the Apostle Paul to move on to new places of ministry service.  Before leaving, Paul charges the lay elders to protect the flock from error and half truth, to faithfully proclaim the whole counsel of God, and to lovingly care for the congregation (as he had).  In short, they were to imitate his faithful example! (1 Cor. 11:1)

As a faithful shepherd Paul hit the ground the running when the Spirit led him to Ephesus.  "From the first day" (Acts 20:18a; Col. 1:29) he shed "blood, sweat, and tears" for the sake of Christ and for the "edification of the church."  For the sake of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15), Paul was willing to "suffer hardship as good Christian soldier (2 Tim. 2:1-3; Acts 20:19, 23).  As a Word-dominated preacher, Paul "did not shrink from declaring ANYTHING that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house" (Acts 20:20).  Paul did all of these things as a steward realizing that he would give an account one day to Christ for all of these pastoral functions (Acts 20:24; Heb. 13:17; 1 Cor. 3).

Having faithfully served the church at Ephesus Paul could say that "he was innocent of the blood of all men."  In other words, he had taught them, discipled them, and cared for them in such a way that his conscience was clear and his hands were clean as he prepared to sail into new ministry waters.

In verses 27-38 Paul expresses what could be described as "a Pastor's worst nightmare."  Having given his all to advance the cause of Christ by establishing a strong, Word-dominated church presence in Ephesus Paul feared what might happen after he left them.  Compromise and mission drift is a major concern of every minister of the gospel who is led to retire or transition to a new ministry setting.

Pastoral Transitions 101: Starting Strong and Ending Well

Pastoral Transitions 101

Long before I knew that the Lord had plans to transition our family to a new ministry context I came across an article that made a huge impression on me.  The blog was titled, "How Pastors Accidentally Ruin Their Church."  Flowers opened with these haunting words: Most pastors really love their church. They understand their calling as under-shepherds tasked with guarding the bride of Christ. Caring for the thing that Jesus died for is a heavy responsibility. Pastors will endure stress and criticism, they will work long hours, and they will sacrifice to protect the church.

Yet, I’ve seen these same men inadvertently bring their church to the brink of ruin. They are good preachers, caring counselors, and men of prayer, yet their church suffered. These pastors followed the play book, but their church nearly closed the doors. It wasn’t on purpose. They never meant any harm to come. But they sat and watched as the church they loved crumbled.  The weakness was not in how they served the church, but how they left the church.

Having witnessed the negative impact of a very selfish pastoral transition before I resolved to do everything I could to never "ruin a congregation" by leaving in a less than exemplary manner; (On a more positive and happy note, having recently experienced the benefits of another Senior Pastor's graciousness to me I am striving to follow "the golden rule.")

Here are a few things I have done in effort to try and help maintain the spiritual momentum here.  Our desire should be to do everything we can to help set up the next guy to succeed (whoever that may be):

1) Write a personal letter to each member and regular attendee.  In this note identify evidences of grace and thank them for their commitment.  Share your heart, highlight the path forward, and encourage them to fix their eyes on Christ.  Remind them that God is faithful and can always be trusted.  Keep reminding them and yourself that Jesus cares about His Church more than every believer combined.

2) Continue to shepherd the flock faithfully and to preach the Word diligently all the way until your very last day.  If you are getting paid for what you do and love the people in your flock, how could you do any less?  This isn't rocket science: 1) start strong- 2) run the race with endurance- 3) and finish well (1 Corinthians 10:31).