I’m not a big fan of overdoing it. Not a huge proponent of overcooking your sermons, overproducing your worship service. But there are a few things I think pastors probably could do more of than they already do, no matter how much they already do. I think pastors ought to:
1. Over-read
I’m not sure I’ve met a pastor who reads too many books. He might be out there; in fact, I’m sure he is. But most I meet don’t read enough, and many I meet hardly read any. But I’m less concerned about books than I am the Scriptures, and in particular, whatever biblical text a pastor is fixin’ to preach on.
I once attended a Christmas Eve service where the pastor preached on Matthew 1:19, going on and on about how Joseph was “just a man” — you know, an ordinary guy, a regular Joe just like you and me. It was meant to show how God can use run-of-the-mill people for great things. You know, Joseph was “just a man.” The problem with this sermon was not the point; it’s that the point didn’t go with the text, because Matthew 1:19 doesn’t say Joseph was “just a man” but that Joseph was “a just man.” This preacher devoted an entire sermon to a basic misreading of the text.
Now, that’s an extreme example, but there’s plenty of us who have preached sermons based on cursory readings of our biblical text. It’s a great reminder to try to get over-familiar with your text!
2. Over-pray
It’s not a last resort; it’s not a first resort; it’s an all-inclusive resort! “Pray without ceasing.” Prayer is essentially acknowledged helplessness — prayer is faith actualized, an emptiness and needfulness expressed — and we are never not in need of God’s grace, presence, and power. Therefore we can’t pray too much!
Maybe your church excels at this, but it’s become pretty routine for a church to ensure low attendance by scheduling a prayer service. Pastor, the first thing you ought to do about your people’s reluctance to pray is pray. Pray for for them. And with them. And by them and in front of them.
A few years ago I spoke to a parachurch rep who spent many Sundays in our area visiting local churches to network and talk about his ministry. He remarked on the amount of prayer in Middletown’s worship service, saying that in his travels he found it rare that a church spent much time in prayer. And lest I sound like I’m really trumpeting the prayerful devotion of my ministry, I should mention that whenever we internally discussed strategically shortening our worship service, the extended prayer time was usually the first point of evaluation. We all had to constantly fight against the temptation to find prayer expendable. But whether you have extended prayer in your formal gathering or not, we should all have extended prayer in our daily lives. This is double, triply, quadruply true for pastors. I really don’t know if any of us are ever in danger of praying too much.
3. Over-think
This point will be the most difficult to grasp, I suspect, so don’t under-think it! I am not arguing for passivity or laziness or a failure to lead or anything like that. I’m also not suggesting we become meddlers or given to speculation, much less paranoia or internal accusation about others. I just mean we ought to consider our flock more. Definitely more than we currently do. We ought to consider their hearts, their minds, their motivations, their fears, their idols. We ought to think about the people in our care as sacred beings made in the image of God, beset by all kinds of temptations, plagued by all kinds of worries, burdened by all kinds of sins, wounded by all kinds of memories, traumatized by all kinds of violations, and so on and so on. The minute we don’t consider the flock as “sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless,” is the minute we drift away from compassion for them.
Pastors treat congregants like statistics, warm bodies, butts in the seats when they under-consider them — when they under-think. Don’t write off needy people, don’t flatly reject critical people, don’t wash your hands of sinful people. Think. Think biblically, pastorally, spiritually, self-reflectively. And then do it some more.
Read, pray, and think — three things you can’t do too much. Overdo it, brothers.
