Four Reasons Nothing Happens

I’m finishing up a study on the career expectations of SBC associate pastors for a journal article and to present at a professional society. I wanted to see what the next generation of senior leadership in the SBC looked like by analyzing where they were currently serving, how they understand their current calling, their tenure and their age. After surveying 463 people in 37 states, the largest response to the question “What are you and your lead pastor doing to help get you ready for that position?” was “Nothing.”

Nothing. 

Nothing is being done to help prepare the next generation of leaders in the perfect laboratory to cultivate their calling, skills, and preparation. Nothing is being done by a generation of pastors who who have an established relationship with a young man who God may call into a pastorate.

The great news is that in the study I found a lot of younger associate pastors who were being developed by their lead pastor, who were studying under his leadership, who were functioning as an apprentice, who were excited about the relationship they had with their lead pastor. For those I am so thankful and encouraged.

But I can’t escape the fact that of the 109 surveyed who said they wanted to be a lead pastor, 44 of them said their lead pastor was doing nothing. What did nothing look like? One said “he’s more focused on his publishing,” another “I find it difficult to confide in him,” “he would be very supportive, but right now we’re too focused on our current tasks,” “he scheduled guest speakers when he would be out after finding out I wanted to be a lead pastor,” “she doesn’t know,” “go to school for that,” “he does teach me, but it’s unintentional.”

I want to propose four reasons why I think nothing happens.

1. Nothing is easy - Pastors have huge expectations for their time. Thom Rainer wrote a post about this and humorously concluded that a deacon body expected 114 hours of work from their pastor. So then on top of that time pressure to produce sermons, counsel people in crisis, visit the sick, lead a staff, cast vision, monitor finances & church metrics some young associate pastor wants a mentor - it can be so easy to put that off because it doesn’t meet the immediate needs of the congregation.
2. Nothing requires no vulnerability - For a leader to open himself up to developing another, he has to be willing to give up something. It could be the pulpit, his time, his weaknesses, his failures in the past, or his prestige before the people. That’s a big deal. It’s hard to open yourself up for another, because developing a leader is more than a curriculum, it’s letting them learn from you.
3. Nothing keeps expectations low - In a church culture that embraces nothing, the expectations are low. As long as the ministry staff is operating in their job descriptions, maintaining the programs and keeping people happy, there’s not the expectation for transformative change. Staff are seen by the church primarily to keep things as they are.
4. Nothing is safe - I met a church planter once who said “the thing I hate about developing good leaders is that they always leave.” He’s right. Investing in an associate pastor with giftings and a calling to senior leadership means you won’t hold on to him forever. One response said “he doesn’t want me to leave so he is holding me in my current field.” It’s safe for church staffing structures to stay as they are, it’s safe because you can develop long tenures and a significant relationship. And there are a lot of associates who are perfectly happy in their roles. The surprising thing for me in the study was that overwhelmingly associate pastors felt called to their positions long-term, and did not have a desire for the senior/lead pastor position.

Nothing has long term consequences, though. Nothing produces a leadership culture that focuses on the immediate at the expense of the long-term, a culture that sees people as cogs and not integral parts, projects more than prospects, and primarily sees church culture as a product to be consumed. In my doctoral work, I used the idea of discipleship to describe the development of associate pastors rather than mentoring or growth. 

Discipleship takes time, it’s messy, it’s very frustrating, but the end result is a young leader who will one day move on from your church into another congregation as a trained, competent, prepared, and effective minister. The end result isn’t so that a leader can have a great “family tree” of proteges who have come under his discipling, but so that the Bride of Christ can be made more pure before Her Husband. Discipling your associate pastors, especially those who want to be in your shoes one day, is a benefit to the Body of Christ. 

Reject the culture of nothing, embrace a culture of replication. If you train one associate pastor who leaves to pastor, and then he does the same thing. In 3 “generations” there will be a legacy of 8 fully trained pastors, and it exponentially multiplies from there. Imagine a city full of competent, prepared, and effective pastors - what could be done there? That’s God’s desire, not nothing.

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