MAGNOLIA MINDS: Is Your Pastor About to Quit?

By Shane McGivney
Correspondent

This past season of ministry has been tough. Church members and pastors alike are weary and worn. With regard to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, church members are either ready for things to return to the way they used to be or they think everything should return slowly and with great caution.

The current political climate in the U.S. has created a great divide within the church and the community. The Southern Baptist Convention has its growing list of struggles. Marriages are crumbling. Children are struggling. To this list of difficulties, you can add all the regular difficulties of church life.

In the midst of all this, most pastors simply just want to fill their God-given role and pastor the church God has given them to lead.

Pastors and their families feel caught in the middle between multiple groups within the church, a post-Christian nation, the government, and the Biblical mandate to make disciples. Many pastors feel like they cannot win. Some have even begun to question what winning even looks like. They know that they can’t please everyone but they can’t seem to find any peace or calm in the midst of the current storm.

According to Thom Rainer, immediate past president of Southern Baptists’ LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, on his churchanswers.com/ website, “The vast majority of pastors with whom our team communicates are saying they are considering quitting their churches. It’s a trend I have not seen in my lifetime. Some are just weeks away from making an announcement.”

Brothers and sisters, please hear my heart. I am one of those pastors. Pastoring is tough. The truth is that pastoring has always been tough. I didn’t become a pastor for an easy life or a big paycheck.

The truth is that pastoring is considered by many to be one of the hardest, most depressing jobs in the world. However, I know that God called me to pastor His church. I want to see people come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I want to see people becoming more like Jesus. I want to see broken marriages restored. I want to see addictions overcome. I want to see the church reaching the nations.

I want to see the church be the church that Jesus died for us to be.

I know this: your pastor needs you. God created us to be in two types of relationships. The most important relationship is with God. He always does His part. He is always there encouraging and providing strength, mercy, and grace.

The local pastor needs his church family. He needs you to pray for him. He needs you to be faithful in your attendance and service in your local church. He needs you to tell him that you love him. He needs you to show him that you love him.

The second relationship is with others. The local pastor needs his church family. He needs you to pray for him. He needs you to be faithful in your attendance and service in your local church. He needs you to tell him that you love him. He needs you to show him that you love him.

Don’t quit on your pastor. He sure doesn’t want to quit on you.

McGivney is pastor of Belden Church, Belden. He may be contacted at SMcGivney@beldenbaptistchurch.com. Opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, The Baptist Record, nor the publication’s Advisory Committee.