{"id":674,"date":"2009-02-11T03:01:14","date_gmt":"2009-02-11T03:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/you-cant-have-it-all.html"},"modified":"2009-02-11T03:01:14","modified_gmt":"2009-02-11T03:01:14","slug":"you-cant-have-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/you-cant-have-it-all.html","title":{"rendered":"You Can\u2019t Have It All"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 7 of series: Advice for Pastor Search Committees
\n<\/em>Permalink for this post<\/a> \/ Permalink for this series<\/a>
\nTo this point, my Advice for Pastor Search Committees includes the following:<\/p>\n

1. Seek first the kingdom of God.
\n2. Pray without ceasing.
\n3. Be open to God\u2019s surprises.
\n4. Exercise endurance and beware of exhaustion.
\n5. Represent your church accurately.
\n6. Get the true \u201cdownside\u201d on candidates.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today I\u2019ll add a seventh point:<\/p>\n

7. You can\u2019t have it all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What I mean is you can\u2019t have the perfect pastor because such a being doesn\u2019t exist . . . apart from Jesus, the Church’s true Pastor. Unfortunately, Jesus rarely applies for church positions these days.
\nSearch committees usually begin with great expectations. This is fine, just as long as they face reality. No pastoral candidate combines everything a church wants. You just won\u2019t find somebody whose equally great at preaching, leadership, discipleship, and pastoral care. Every pastor will have strengths and weaknesses. Necessarily.
\nOf course this is true in any other field that requires people to have complex skill sets. In the NBA, for example, the best point guards won\u2019t be the best centers, and vice versa. In the NFL, wide receivers would make poor linebackers. In business, those with ample creativity are rarely expert bean counters. Great salespeople often make poor managers.
\nSo it is in pastoral work, and even more so when you consider the diverse tasks pastors are expected to perform. They need to be strong in the scholarly discipline of biblical study and in the field of oral communication. Pastors as preachers must be theological, practical, intellectual, and emotional. They are expected to be visionary leaders but also attend to pastoral and managerial details. Pastors are supposed to be tenderhearted with church members but tough when dealing with staff who are not doing their job well. Pastors should be present with the congregation and active in the community.
\nNot only is it rare, if not impossible to find a single person who is able to excel at all the tasks in a pastoral job description, but also you have a time prioritization problem. For example, it takes a substantial chunk of time to prepare a good sermon. I used to plan on devoting about twelve hours a week to sermon preparation. I know many pastors who need more time. My mentor, Lloyd Ogilvie, has said that a pastor needs to devote at least an hour of preparation for every minute of preaching. Unfortunately, many churches that want an excellent twenty-minute sermon aren\u2019t willing to give their pastor twenty hours for preparation, unless that pastor is willing to work 60-70 hours a week. (Photo: Lloyd Ogilvie, one of the finest preachers in America in the last forty years)
\nIf you\u2019re on a search committee, and you\u2019re looking for a senior pastor, and you want someone who is equally excellent in preaching, teaching, visionary leadership, management, discipleship, and pastoral care, you\u2019re fooling yourself. And candidates who present themselves as equally competent in all these areas are fooling themselves, or trying to fool you, or both. I\u2019m not suggesting that pastors can\u2019t be fairly strong in all of these areas. But most visionary leaders are, by nature, not equipped to be excellent managers. And most outstanding preacher-teachers are not the best at pastoral care. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
\nIf it\u2019s true that you can\u2019t have it all, then, obviously, pastor search committees need to work very hard on defining priorities. What do you really need<\/em> in a pastor? What do you want, but are willing to give up if necessary? What are the essentials that must be in place if your new pastor is going to work out well in your church?
\nYears ago I was on a search committee for a high school director. This person would have been called a pastor in many church settings, but we were not seeking someone who was an ordained Presbyterian pastor. In the early stages of our search we came up with a long list of things we wanted in a youth leader. Some were clearly essential, like \u201cA love for God and for kids.\u201d Some were less so, like \u201cThe ability to speak a relevant foreign language.\u201d At the end of our initial discernment process, the committee agreed that we needed our high school director to be strong as a guitar-playing worship leader. But, along the way, we found an outstanding candidate for the position who couldn\u2019t play the guitar and couldn\u2019t sing. (We\u2019ll he could<\/em> sing, but it wasn\u2019t an especially pleasant experience for those nearby.) This candidate clearly fell short in a qualification that we had deemed essential. But we realized that we didn\u2019t need him to be a musician\/worship leader so much as we needed him to be someone who could recruit musician\/worship leaders to work alongside him in ministry. So we called him to the church. And, before long, he had helped to build a strong worship-leading band.
\nIn sum, I believe that search committees can\u2019t have it all when it comes to pastoral candidates. (Likewise, I believe there are no perfect churches, by the way. Candidates need to be realistic, too) If committees recognize this, then they\u2019ll work hard to define what is really essential in their next pastor. Moreover, they\u2019ll be ready to be realistic in calling a new pastor, and in helping their church get ready for their new pastor to thrive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 7 of series: Advice for Pastor Search Committees Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series To this point, my Advice for Pastor Search Committees includes the following: 1. Seek first the kingdom of God. 2. Pray without ceasing. 3. Be open to God\u2019s surprises. 4. Exercise endurance and beware of exhaustion. 5.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastor-search-committees"],"yoast_head":"\nYou Can\u2019t Have It All - Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}