Make Pastors Small Again

Starting about six years ago, my philosophy of pastoral ministry has changed significantly. The shift was so significant that I ended up quitting the ministry altogether. Part of my departure from ministry had to do with church hurt. Most of it had to do with my pride and the fact that I found my identity in my ministry rather than finding it in Christ alone. As a church member, I became disenchanted with churches because they didn’t offer something I was looking for. Even though I gained a significant following preaching, publishing blogs, creating podcasts, and recording videos, I found no fulfillment because I was serving myself instead of Christ and others. I did not realize the church was never to be built around my momentary wants or successes. It was to be about Christ, for Christ, to Christ—for His glory and our good.

Think for a moment about most modern protestant worship services. They are mostly the same, with small differences:

1. Service begins with a song or announcements.
2. There may be some kind of welcome time during which the congregants shake hands and hug one another.
3. There are a few more songs.
4. A preacher stands up to preach.
5. Sometimes an invitation is offered in evangelical churches.
6. Sometimes communion is observed.

I’m not going to insist that churches should change their orders of service on Sunday morning, but I do want perform a brief thought experiment. When you look at this order of service or liturgy, who do you see? I see the musicians, vocalists, and preacher. This very modern and new way of doing church can be traced back to the 1940s, becoming very popular in the Jesus Movements of the 1960s-70s. If I understand it correctly, churches started organizing their church services like revival meetings instead of what the traditional church services at the time looked like. History may have documented seasons of growth for individual churches and even denominations, but when we look at the bigger picture we see quite a different story being told.

According to Gallup research, all church membership in the United States has been in decline since the 1960s, it doesn’t matter what seasons of growth one local church or another might have experienced. As soon as the pastor-personality model of church became the prevalent model, the church overall went into decline. Church decline extends past a single church in a single season and to a paradigm that was set 80 or so years ago and never significantly questioned. Granted, I am pointing out correlation and not causation, here. I’m not saying pastors can’t be good or people don’t love Jesus. I’m not condemning one generation or another. It’s likely this correlation went unnoticed because people haven’t always had this information at their fingertips. People have been doing their best to honor God given the knowledge and experiences they had. I’m also not insisting that Christianity has been in decline over the past 80 years, just church attendance and membership in the United States. I’m not claiming this new paradigm is necessarily to blame entirely for the church decline of the last 80 years, and I’m not claiming it is the only factor. I simply want to stir your thoughts because I’m not sure most modern churches get it. I’m no longer bitter toward the church. I’m not singling out any particular church or denomination. This problem is a national one, and I simply want to stir your thoughts.

What do we expect when we center the church like we have on the personalities of the pastors? In doing this, I think we set the church up for failure. Even faithful personalities don’t last forever. When one personality leaves, retires, or dies, the church built on that personality also leaves. Campuses shut down. Giving decreases. People grow disenchanted because the pastor drove the identity of the whole church, and things are naturally different now. The few remaining church members, if there are any, who love the church are left to pick up the pieces.

Often, they pick up the pieces by finding the next personality to “lead” the church. He comes in, casts his vision, and moves the whole church in his direction only for the whole process to be repeated again in a few years. The congregation is left as a spectator in the process. No wonder people have grown disenchanted. No wonder young men and women who love Jesus are converting to more traditional church models like Orthodox, Anglican, and Catholic in higher numbers today than in recent history. Generation Z is converting from protestantism to Catholicism because “there is something transcendent about the rituals and the ancient history in the Catholic Mass… The church really communicates a degree of reverence that I didn’t find in the more liberal, laissez-faire approach of nondenominational churches” (Sydney Johnston; https://nypost.com/2025/04/17/lifestyle/why-young-people-are-converting-to-catholicism-en-masse/).

We have fooled ourselves into thinking that newer, cooler, more technological, more programmatic, louder, and more modern is better for reaching people with the Gospel. Even with younger generations like Millennials and Generation Z moving away from the lights to traditional liturgical environments, modern protestants double down, reject any form of traditional value, and choose to look and feel more like the world to reach the world—and it hasn’t worked for 80 years. Instead, we have created an atmosphere of pastoral turnover and sheep swapping. The church has suffered.

I’m not saying modern music or lights are bad. We should do what we do well and utilize the technology God has given us for His glory. With the Spirit moving, we will write new songs and preach with passion. There is something to be said, though, about the heart of our culture as we do. Even today, I talked with a lady who is looking for a church home, but doesn’t want to plug into a church if all she will do is sit in a pew. She is looking for missions opportunities within and out of her community.

I’m going to hone in on Baptist methodology, which once looked and felt vastly different than it does following the Jesus Revolution in the US. Describing Baptist liturgy in the 1600s, H. Leon McBeth wrote,

The order of the worshippe and government of oure church is .1. we begynne wth A prayer, after reade some one or tow chapters of the bible gyve the sence thereof, and conferr vupon the same, that done we lay aside our bookes, and after a solemne prayer made by the .1. speaker, he propoundeth some text owt of the Scripture, and prophecieth owt of the same, by the space of one hower, or thre Quarters of an hower, After him standeth vp A .2. speaker and prophecieth owt of the same text the like tyme and space. some tyme more some tyme less. After him the .3. the .4. the .5. & as the tyme will geve leave, Then the .1. speaker concludeth wth prayer as he began with prayer, wth an exhortation to contribute to the poore, wch collection being made is also concluded with prayer. This Morning exercise begynes at eight of the clocke and continueth vnto twelve of the clocke the like course of exercise is observed in the afternowne from .2. of the clock vnto .5. or .6. of the Clocke, last of all the execution of the government of the church is handled (McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, pg. 91).

There was music and preaching, prayer, the reading of Scripture, and communion. The elements are all there, but notice a stark contrast. Notice how many people are involved in speaking to one another. There are multiple words of encouragement, multiple people praying, multiple people preaching, and there were constant exhortations for the congregation as a whole to give to the poor, and then there was time given for decisions to be made concerning the church—in this case congregationally because Baptists have nearly always been congregational in their polity. Historically, the Baptist faith in particular has been centered on Christ through the work of the congregation—not one or a few personalities in the church. Same elements, different culture. The new culture correlates suspiciously to the overall decline of churches in the US. 

When most people talk about being conservative and traditional, they are talking about honoring the values produced 30-50 years ago. When I talk about traditional values and theological stances in the church, I typically am talking about church before the 20^th Century, even back to the time of the Apostles. Consider Paul’s instructions to the church,

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

He did not say the personalities of the church are given manifestations of the Spirit for the spectatorship of the congregation. In fact, Paul did not designate between the pastors and church body at all concerning the level of their importance in the church gathering. Instead, he said the Holy Spirit gives “each one” gifts to use for the common good during the church meeting. That is why we call it a worship “service” instead of a worship “concert.” Somehow, everyone is to be a real participant with the gifts given him by the Spirit according to the Spirit’s will—we seem to have removed the church so far away from that notion it feels weird to mention in most contexts. Instead, we all come in, fill pews, and wait for the main act. Our brains are conditioned for spectator events rather than real participation. So, we look for the church that puts on the best concert and appeals to our wants as if we are consumers. The vocalists, musicians, and preacher are the only real participants. And, we wonder why church leaves so many unfulfilled in their religion. We are surprised when the church is in decline. We have made a culture of spectatorship rather than participation. God has not designed the church to be this way.

Even when the Bible describes the role of pastors, they are not the center of attention. Think about what Paul wrote to Ephesus,

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13).

God gave pastors and teachers not to be the personalities of the whole church but to equip the saints for the work of service—so the saints may build up the body of Christ until there is unity of faith and knowledge of Jesus. The pastoral position is the most selfless position because, instead of being the center of attention, always putting on a show to get more followers, or trying to attract people to a church building, the pastor is always raising others up above himself. He equips people for their works of service. Then, he raises them up to serve others. But, like I was 6 years ago, most people wanting to pastor are looking to build their own ministries, develop their own content, have people come listen to them, be the face of the church, have people sit under them, stream their own faces to multiple campuses, and have many people sitting under their cute little sermons. This is idolatry. Most people seeking to be pastors are in it for sordid gain. They disguise their selfish ambition by claiming to serve God. The Bible and church history give us something very different, something more meaningful, and something that clearly works better for the success and longevity of the church than the 80-year experiment we find ourselves in most places today.

If you are involved at any protestant church, your thoughts are most likely going in a million directions after reading this. Don’t get angry. Let your thoughts settle. Culture change does not happen overnight. It begins in the small things. Find a pastor who isn’t about building his own ministry or trying to get the church to buy into his vision. Find a pastor who raises others up and thinks more highly of others than himself. Don’t buy into the celebrity pastor culture of any local church or denomination. When you are looking for a church, instead of finding one to cater to your preferences, look for a church where you have the opportunity to be equipped for service and serve according to your gifts. In large part, churches have forgotten why they are on this earth. God is under no obligation to bless church done our way. However, I believe God will move heaven and earth to accomplish His work when church is done His way.

I’m not calling for methodological change. I’m calling for a heart-check. Let’s experience revival together.

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If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.