Expectation Overload
There is a danger of doing too much as well as of doing too little. Life is not for work, but work for life, and when it is carried to the extent of undermining life or unduly absorbing it, work is not praiseworthy but blameworthy.
Ralph Turnbull
Every preacher who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away.
J. Harold Smith
There's no question but that the expectations of pastors have changed dramatically in recent years. In fact, the best-known American preacher of the 1700s probably would not have been able to make it in today's pastorate. A scholar like Jonathan Edwards would be unlikely to attract a twentieth-century audience. Apart from a supernatural movement of the Spirit, people would not be flocking from miles around to hear him the way people responded to Edwards in his day. He'd likely be teaching in a seminary instead.
It's no longer enough for a pastor to be a scholar and Bible expositor, to preach on Sunday, and to perform such ceremonial duties as baptisms, weddings, and funerals. Today's pastors are also expected to attract people to the church, administer a volunteer or paid staff, and counsel individuals with a wide range of personal problems. And if pastors can use computers to project church growth, giving levels, and how much debt the church can handle, so much the better.
They also have to be warm and personable, creating that feeling of intimacy we discussed in the last chapter. No matter how large or small the church, the people coming through the doors on Sunday want the pastor to make them feel loved and important. And if they can't do all these things, they'll have people wondering why the superchurch pastors can do it but their pastor can't.
What's a pastor supposed to do? It's ...
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