Five Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them

Charles Stone

Description

Before pastors reach burnout and leave the ministry, they experience frustration and disappointment in ministry. Charles Stone, a veteran pastor, helps his fellow pastors understand and meet the challenges, regaining hope and energy to continue in their calling. Based on new information from The Barna Group and additional research, Stone shows readers what pastors are saying about ministry and how to overcome the obstacles, rebuild community within the congregation, and persevere with joy.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441212023
• Langue: English

Extrait

“Without question, we as pastors and church leaders face struggles and frustrations that threaten to kill our joy and effectiveness in ministry. In this relevant book, Charles Stone takes an honest look at these struggles and frustrations based on research and personal experience. Thankfully, he also says we can resist these ‘ministry killers,’ encouraging us to lead with vulnerability, humility, integrity, and courage. If you are serious about staying focused and faithful in your ministry, read this book and be encouraged.”
—Ed Stetzer President of LifeWay Research
“A delightful guide to anyone in ministry. Just as you need a guide to keep you from making horrific mistakes when you go on a camping trip—mistakes that could embarrass, hurt, or even kill—Charles Stone’s book on the Five Ministry Killers will make you laugh, cry, and in the end may save your ministry. Get it, read it, enjoy it, and then learn.”
—Elmer L. Towns Co-Founder, Liberty University Dean, School of Religion Lynchburg, Virginia
“Charles Stone does a fabulous job of interweaving statistics and stories in Five Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them to make a compelling case for how to defeat those evasive character issues that can destroy a ministry. This is an imperative topic for those of us in ministry today.”
—Dave Ferguson Lead Pastor, Community Christian Church Spiritual Entrepreneur, NewThing Network
“The book cover promises ‘help for frustrated pastors’—and the author has delivered on his promise in a big way. Charles Stone presents relevant statistics, weaves them with stories, and makes it come alive with highly practical advice from a pastor’s heart. Reading this book was time well spent.”
—Tim Stevens Author, Pastor, and Blogger at LeadingSmart.com

© 2010 Charles Stone
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2010
Ebook corrections 09.09.2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-1202-3
Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. ® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified CEV are from the Contemporary English Version. Copyright © American Bible Society 1995. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations identified ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations identified The Message are from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scripture quotations identified NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, ® Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Scripture quotations indentified NKJV are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified TEV are from the Bible in Today’s English Version (Good News Bible). Copyright © American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.
Cover design by Lookout Design, Inc.
To pastors everywhere who labor for their Savior
CHARLES STONE, DMin, serves as senior pastor of Ginger Creek Community Church, in suburban Chicago. He has been in the ministry 30 years, has published numerous articles in church and ministry magazines, and is the coauthor (with his daughter) of Daughters Gone Wild—Dads Gone Crazy . Charles has graduate degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He and his wife, Sherryl, have three adult children.
To contact Charles for information on his ministry or speaking engagements, visit his Web site: www.charlesstone.net .
CONTENTS
Cover
Endorsements
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
PART I: This Ain’t Kansas Anymore
Chapter 1: “Mama Always Said Life Was Like a Box of Chocolates. You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get . ”
Chapter 2: “Houston, We Have a Problem.”
Chapter 3: “Frankly, My Dear, I Don’t Give a . . .” (Why We’d Better Give More Than a . . . )
PART II: “What We’ve Got Here Is . . . a Failure to Communicate” (What Almost 2,000 Pastors and More Than 600 Church Members Revealed)
Chapter 4: Schoolyard Bullies Who Eat Our Lunch (What Really Bothers Us)
Chapter 5: Punch ’Em Out, Tell the Teacher, or Skip Lunch? (How We Respond)
Chapter 6: Enjoying Lunch Even When the Bullies Abound (What We Want From Those We Serve)
PART III: Whatcha Gonna Do When the Bad Boys Come for You?
Chapter 7: Open Up With Vulnerability (Do You Have a Safe Confidant?)
Chapter 8: Own Up With Humility (Does What Frustrates You Jibe With Scripture?)
Chapter 9: Show Up With Integrity (Are My Responses to Ministry Frustrations Healthy?)
Chapter 10: Speak Up With Courage (Is What I Want Really What I Need, and Who Needs to Know?)
PART IV: “ Carpe Diem. Seize the Day, Boys. Make Your Lives Extraordinary.”
Chapter 11: Spouse Killers
Chapter 12: After You Sell the Book on eBay, What’s Next?
Appendix: Research Details
Notes
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
Jonathan, who pastored a church in New England for twenty-three years, faced everything from power struggles to salary controversies to questions about his leadership. Once, he confronted some boys in the church after they had taunted several young girls with suggestive comments. His handling of the situation outraged the boys’ parents and fueled their resistance toward him.
Another issue swirled around his visitation policy. He knew his greatest primary gifts were preaching and teaching rather than other traditional pastoral ones. So in contrast to what was considered customary, he chose to make a visit only when an emergency arose. However, many members began to fault him for “not loving the people,” which further stoked church dissatisfaction.
Fortunately, Pastor Jonathan had a friend, John, upon whom he often leaned. John’s stature in that church helped ameliorate many issues that otherwise could have derailed the ministry, and his presence also helped keep criticism at bay. Unfortunately, after John’s death, the simmering problems floated to the surface. One particular man was so hostile to Jonathan’s leadership that he became the ringleader of a large opposition group.
One final matter became the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. The previous pastor had loosely allowed unbelievers to become members, and Jonathan later became aware that several of those members had flagrantly sinned. In their small community, these sins had become quite public, and since he believed that only believers who evidenced a changed life should join the church, he began to change the policy.
A firestorm erupted, and Jonathan knew that were he to stand firm on his convictions, he could lose his pastorate. But he stood his ground, and the inevitable occurred. They fired him, and at age forty-six he found himself unemployed. The rejection became so intense that the agricultural town forbad him even to use common grazing land for his farm animals.
One friend, noting how Jonathan responded to his firing, wrote, “I never saw the least symptoms of displeasure in his countenance the whole week, but he appeared like a man of God, whose happiness was out of the reach of his enemies and whose treasure was not only a future but a present good.”
Ten years later, because Jonathan had so graciously responded to his critics and his dismissal, one of his main detractors admitted that pride, self-sufficiency, ambition, and vanity had caused the contention. The pastor’s handling of his ministry crisis left such an impression that eventually the church publicly repented of their actions, exactly 150 years after they sent him packing.
Who was Jonathan? Jonathan Edwards, arguably America’s greatest theologian. 1

When I first read this story, I was simultaneously shocked and encouraged. Shocked because, as pastor of a midsized church, I too often assume that large-church pastors and influential spiritual leaders don’t face the same problems I do. Edwards’ story helped dispel my wrong assumption. However, I mostly felt encouraged by his godly response to what could have killed his ministry after he was fired. Because he kept his eye and his heart on what matters most to God, he left an enduring legacy.
That’s what this book is all about, encouraging pastors to focus their ministries and their efforts on the issues that matter most to God: loving Him and loving others, and helping those we serve do the same.
When that happens, I believe God will maximize our joy, help us lead at our best, and give us stamina to stay in the game for the long haul. I don’t mean to imply that God-honoring strategic plans, state-of-the-art facilities, and well-managed budgets aren’t spiritual. They can be and are important. But