We’ve been discussing how to change church shrinkage into church growth. How is the pastor’s ego a factor in this? “Ego” in this context means the internal drive that gets the pastor going in the morning; the ambition that is one of the central components of the pastor’s planning; and the internal vision the pastor has of the cosmos and her/his place in it and that guides the pastor’s actions. Some will object that a pastor should not have an ego, or that a pastor’s humility should totally subsume ego. I would suggest otherwise. If a pastor senses a Divine call to pastoral ministry, that call came to a self – an ego. If a pastor exercises leadership, that leadership comes from a defined personality – an ego. If a pastor offers counseling to a hurting soul, that counsel comes from a reflective intelligence – an ego. So the question is not whether a pastor has an ego, but what the pastor does with it. There are plenty of misuses of ego. Some congregations are cults of personality, in which the entire operation centers on the figure of the pastor during a lengthy pastorate. While the congregation and its ministry may survive after the central figure retires or dies, it will do so in a reduced or wounded form. Some congregations are burdened with pastors who are so bound to tradition or afraid of the future that the congregation does not feel free to experiment with new forms of ministry or welcome newcomers who do not fit an accustomed mold. And a few congregations (we hope it’s only a few) have pastors who are wedded to sloth and who find ways to keep the congregation from doing anything that will cause their pastor to actually do some work. The consequences of misused pastoral ego are obvious. In the short or long term, a pastor’s ego can shrink a congregation or even kill it. So what’s a productive application of pastoral ego? Pastoral ego is productive when it is centered on the fellowship, with the conviction that “as the fellowship rises or falls, so do I.” We all want to be successful in our vocations. But in contrast to many other vocations, a pastor’s success is not measured by her/his activities and accomplishments, but by what is happening to the life of the congregation the pastor serves. And, success in congregational life is measured less by dollar signs than by non-material signals: a congregational vision that looks outward rather than inward; an ability of the fellowship to handle the failures that inevitably accompany successive new initiatives without blaming or retreating from the continuing quest to find new ways to serve; and an approach to congregational life that is marked by joy and anticipation. It takes a big ego to center itself on the fellowship rather than the self. Pastoral ego is productive when it looks to legacy rather than accomplishment. Many local churches have a wall filled with photos of former pastors – what is often referred to with more or less humor as a “rogues’ gallery.” A healthy ego drives a pastor toward a congregation’s memory, not that she/he “did a lot of stuff” but instead toward “that pastor left this congregation in better shape than when she/he arrived.” This long term perspective means that a pastor will need to stay focused on the congregation’s long term vision for ministry, accept short-term defeats, endure and perhaps even find ways to co-opt obstructive personalities (every congregation has at least one!), and build teams rather than win personal victories. It takes a big ego to see one’s role in the long term rather than in momentary issues and distractions. Pastoral ego is productive when it is balanced by a sense of humor. The work of the church must be taken seriously. Church workers on the other hand shouldn’t take themselves too seriously. It takes a big ego to smile at one’s self in the midst of daily struggles. Bottom line: we need pastors with big egos – big enough to serve a fellowship that will grow in its ministry.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 14:19:27 +0000
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