Pastors must be willing to risk, try new things, and fail if they are going to lead and grow the church.
It’s easy to understand why church leaders don’t feel the need to take a step of faith or try something new.
It feels like we’ve been overloaded with risk. It seems like one too many things haven’t worked. We’ve lost faith in the idea of trying to reach out to the lost. Instead, we focus on pleasing the people we have.
Too many pastors and church leaders have lost their confidence to lead big. They trust the Lord, but it’s hard to live it out in practice when the whole church is ready to determine how much of a success or failure they are at this or that.
In short, aversion to risk and potential failure will cause a pastor to become hesitant.
I first heard the term “hesitant pastor” from Craig Groeschel’s book, Lead Like It Matters. Hesitant pastors second-guess themselves. If something didn’t work before, they steer clear of the possibility of that scenario happening again.
The more you stay hesitant, the more the enemy tries to convince you are a failure. This is no way to live and serve in the church.
Serving as a pastor or ministry leader is not easy, but we move ahead on faith. Those times of success by the power of God will energize your congregation and you. You cannot grow without having leaps of faith.
Jesus promises that we will see greater things than he did. (John 14:12)
The power that raised Jesus is alive in you. (Romans 8:11)
And without faith, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)
All this leads us to take God’s promises literally and start taking risks. While it’s important to be prayerful and wise, your church may be ready for something that takes them out of their comfort zone and inspires them. The only way to see God’s power at work in mighty ways is to step up and step out in faith.
I understand the feeling of being hesitant, but I get excited thinking how life and ministry can be different when I overcome it.
Move forward. You’re where you are for a reason. You have ideas and creativity that come from the Lord himself. You have been placed in this church to shepherd and lead. Your people want you to lead them in moving forward. Don’t tread water – start swimming hard into a world that needs to meet Jesus through his church.