I started thinking today about the pastor as spiritual director. I’ve seen many books that try to teach me how to be a CEO or something like that. I also get many invitations to conferences on church managment, growing large churches, etc. However, I’ve started to question the whole “grow the church large” mentality. I’ve also started to question how I pastor others.

One thing I’ve noticed is, when I don’t care about the bottom line (as far as the conference is concerned), I tend to do things differently. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to make people upset at all. However, in the past, I would care so much what people would think (because, if you made people made, they would leave and your year end reports would look bad) I would not always do what I thought was best.

For example, some pastors are reluctant to talk about money. However, money is one of the top topics in the Bible. I believe that the whole area of giving is a spiritual one. Basically, giving is a way to acknowlege (to yourself at least) that your trust is in God. What I long to want for my life is to be generous. Not with my excess, but with my very life. The only way I can do this is if my trust in God is so strong, I’m able to open my hands and let go.

Back to Pastor as Spiritual Director….I’m starting to feel that the stress on the church growing bigger, has hurt us growing deeper in our faith. What I would hope is, as we grow deeper, Christ is formed within us. We are able to become what He was. It isn’t that we are self-righteous, but rather from the core of our being the Love of God flows forth. I believe, when that happens, the church will grow and more importantly, people will be changed.

Enough for now….

Dave.