A New Hat
Pastors never knew when 2020 hit that they would be entrusted to wear hats as a leader that they never wore before. Regardless, this year has forced pastors to embrace roles that make for new challenges and opportunities.
Epidemiologist / Microbiologist
Pastors never thought they would need a staff person to help them know what to do during a pandemic. We find ourselves in need of a various number of medical experts in various fields. At the end of the day, pastors are being asked to make decisions that can impact peoples health, families and livelihood.
Video Communications
Back in our college and graduate preaching classes we had to record a message then critique ourselves on what we heard and saw. Never in a million years did I think I would have to get proficient at speaking to a camera. While I have been targeting talking in front of a camera for the past 9 months and have been working on this skill for the past few years, I am still a novice at how to communicate through a screen (television, computer, cell phone, etc.).
Reporter
Pastors are being asked to give their opinions on whether or not news is factual or fake. We didn’t go to school for research science but we are needing to catch up on how to spot fake news from factual news. Our opinions can cause division.
Networking / Social Media
Pastors who remember life pre-Facebook will recall a time when they could lead a congregation as something of an expert with educational and denominational recognition behind us. Now, everyone has access to experts with differing opinions who can then exercise their gift in using networks to quickly undermine the minister before we even knew there was an issue. Pastors find themselves needing to know how networks and media function today.
Psychology
Working from home has revealed what has been going on in homes. If things were good on March 1, it has been revealed. If things were deteriorating on March 1, it is being revealed. Pastors are needing to consider marital issues, family issues, depression, addiction, anxiety and other Mental Health challenges in unprecedented ways. Most of us not only need to have experts on hand, some of us need those experts too.
The Kingdom of Heaven
Despite the challenges, despite the pessimistic tone of this post and despite the enemy seeming to advance against the Church every day, we have a counter-narrative. We are servants of the King and have been entrusted to serve His Kingdom. This is the Kingdom against which all the powers of hell cannot stand. Yes, there are challenges in the church today. Yes, we are being asked to make decisions we were not prepared to make. However, we are also being called to advance God’s Kingdom against the powers of darkness, the powers that have already been defeated.
Pastor, trust the people around you and find experts to help you. Let them guide your decision making so you are not going at this calling alone. Next, focus on helping your people live life as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is time to recapture what Jesus was teaching us while He was physically on this planet. That is a hat I love to wear and want to wear it more each day.