I took my first sabbatical after 10 years of serving in my church here in Rockford. Then I asked the elders if I could take one every 7 years. I took my second sabbatical this summer. I didn’t have a grand plan to write a book or anything. I just wanted to quiet my soul and reset my devotional habits for the next 7 years.
Some history about me and the church: Redeemer Church was planted in 2003 but I arrived in 2005 after the first pastor was let go. It’s hard enough to establish a church but especially hard when you lose the founding pastor after 18 months. This was the situation I came into. We had 5 young kids, the oldest in 4th grade in March of 2005. If you ask my wife her part of the story, she would tell you it was hard to leave Spokane, Washington where we had lived for 10 years. Four of our five kids were born there, we developed wonderful friendships and our ministry was flourishing. In addition to the trauma of leaving all of that, was the fact that I had never preached week in and week out before. I had filled in to preach from time to time as a worship pastor but never back-to-back Sundays. Instead of being responsible for a worship ministry, I was now responsible for everything. Up to that point, I had no idea the weight a senior pastor carried.
Within the first 3 months, 50 people left because they were convinced the leadership team picked the wrong candidate (me)! I remember sitting in my driveway one summer night with a friend talking about whether the church would survive. The pressure was overwhelming. Thank God, 50 new people filled their place by the year’s end.
I’m convinced that senior pastoring or church planting is one of the hardest things you could do. Starting a business is similar to starting a church but with a church, it’s far more personal. Personal? Yeah, people won’t stay or give (two things you need to sustain a church) if they don’t believe in the pastor…if they don’t believe in you. It’s like you get a scorecard in front of your eyes every Sunday.
Here’s the point I want to share with you: If you don’t have a robust devotional life, you won’t make it. A devotional life will move you away from the mirror of self-admiration and put you on your knees in holy adoration. This is critical for the pastor. Is it strange to suggest that the pastorate can push us to reflect too much on ourselves? It’s an occupational hazard…unless we are staring at the Lord of glory.
If you don’t have a robust devotional life, you won’t make it.
The crafting of our sermons can be devotional if it leads us to adore the Lord. What I have found for myself is that I need an additional hour each day where I’m interacting with the Word and then press it into my soul through prayer. While reading, I’m on the lookout for glimpses of His glory. Puritan pastor John Owen (1616 - 1683) said it this way: “If the beauty and glory of Christ does not capture our imaginations, dominate our waking thought, and fill our hearts with longing and desire, something else will.”
If you want to stay in ministry over the long haul…if you want to love Christ and the church after 20 years of ministry, keep a robust devotional life. The best thing you could give your church each week is not a clever outline or a killer illustration (I want both of those) but a heart that’s lit for God. A bonfire does not need an advertisement, for people will be drawn to the flame.
Is your church impacting your community? We as a network want to celebrate that with you! Contact Elise Iler at eiler@highpointsend.org so we can praise God for what he is doing through your ministry together!
