7 Signs of a Bad Pastor

[maybetoday]

7 Signs of a Bad Pastor





Somehow the mysterious inner workings of the Google search engine has ordained that one of the searches that often brings people to the Pastor on the Edge is “signs of a bad pastor.” I imagine that someone looking for these on Google is probably looking for evidence to confirm a hunch about their own pastor. And, as much as I hesitate to provide ammunition for church fights, or to increase the amount of grief pastors get when they fail to meet the often unreasonable expectations of everyone’s opinions, it’s probably worth listing at least a few of the things that, over 20 years of pastoral experience, seem essential. And, there are, as in any profession, a few bad ones out there. Just be sure not to paint the whole profession red on the account of a few.



So, here they are: 7 signs of a bad pastor.



Pastor can’t preach. It goes without saying that someone whose job is to talk for 10-20 minutes better not be boring as hell. No “invite a friend Sunday” is going to make up for people getting their friends out only to have them sit through a monotone monologue, a tirade, or an infomercial. Not everyone can be brilliant every week, but consistently bad performance is a problem.


Pastor can’t teach. At minimum, a pastor needs to be familiar with the Bible and the rudiments of theology, and be able to hold an intelligent conversation about them. Beyond the minimum, a pastor needs to be able to help people, one on one, and in groups, make the connections between what the Bible says and how it applies to them. Having an understanding and ability to appropriate various modes of learning helps a lot.


Pastor can’t administer. Like it or not, the pastor (at least in the context of the American church) is in charge of keeping all the dishes spinning on all the sticks that make the church’s ministries work. Delegation is important. The ability to keep track of more than a few things simultaneously is also important. There should be a lot of other people involved in making ministry happen. But the buck stops at the pastor’s desk.


Pastor thinks he or she’s a psychologist (unless he or she really does have a degree and a license to practice). Over the years, there has come to be a popular expectation that pastors should be good counselors. And, ideally, they should be able to help people with common sense advice, be able to provide a listening ear, and offer an objective point of view, when asked, to help people get unstuck. But most pastors are not trained to be counselors in the modern clinical sense. A good pastor will refer clinical cases to qualified clinical counselors.


Pastor acts like a diva. Another way of saying this could be, the pastor seems to think more of himself or herself than he or she thinks of Jesus. Having self-esteem is one thing. Having to be the center of attention at all times is quite another. The ministry is not the opportunity for self-promotion, it’s an opportunity for Jesus promotion and building up of others.


Pastor doesn’t care about people in the congregation. Aptitudes for pastoral care will differ. So will the perceptions of how much attention is called for in any given instance. When you’re a pastor, it can often seem like everybody wants a piece of you, and they want it now. In an online world, the expectations for immediate response and instant gratification are unreasonable. But simply not caring is a deal-breaker.


Pastor doesn’t care about people outside the congregation. Jesus cared for people who had not yet followed. He cared for them, regardless of their inclination to follow, their ability to put a danarius into the ministry, or even their religious commitments. A pastor who is following Jesus will have an openness to people on the outside and encourage the congregation to make room for them on the inside.



It’s worth noting that of these, the first three are matters of competence, and the last three are a matter of attitude. Number 4 could be either. In matters of competence, the solution is to send the pastor for continuing education and see if that improves the situation. In the case of attitude, well… fish or cut bait.


 

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