Every Paul Makes a Timothy (Mike Glenn)

By Mike Glenn

Have you ever seen the horror movies where somebody wakes up in the morning and finds out they're the last person on earth.  The movie shows the last person on earth walking through empty streets and going into building after building looking to see if anybody else is in the world.  The whole world is empty and the loneliness of being alone in the world soon leads to confusion and depression.  I had my own experience of this scenario a few  weeks ago.

Let me explain.

Back in October, I stepped down as Senior Pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church after 32 years. I wanted to start working with pastors and churches in planting other congregations. My plan was simple. I would study the demographics of Middle Tennessee, identify areas of opportunity, find a church partner and then, start a new church.

That's when I started noticing a problem. Where do you find qualified pastors for these new churches? I started asking around and here' s what I discovered. We don't have enough pastors. As of this writing, there are about four hundred Southern Baptist churches in Tennessee without a pastor. When I called my friends and asked them to recommend some young pastors, they told me they were about to call me and make the same request.

There aren't any young qualified pastors. Now, that's a slight overstatement, but not by much.

Most of us know there is a shortage of pastors in North America.  What I want you to know it's more than a shortage. It's a crisis and it's a crisis the church must address now.  Seminaries will tell you they have record enrollments, but the numbers are deceptive. These aren't first career full time students but second career students and part time students.

There are several reasons for this. First, we've had a number of pastors with national platforms brought down by charges of immorality and sexual harassment, financial mismanagement and creating toxic work places. Pastors have emphasized their political connections and neglected the gospel. In a time of national turmoil, our churches have been silent or just plain wrong.  There are few pastors seen as brave and worthy of following by our young people 

Second, the ministry is no longer seen as a viable career option. Non-profits now carry out most of the ministries churches used to do.  Given the choice between running a non-profit feeding the hungry or building affordable housing or leading a local congregation, most young leaders will choose leading the non-profit.

Lastly,  and I think this is key, pastors no longer see identifying and training ministers as part of their calling.  Read the job description of any pastor.  Preaching, doing funerals and wedding, and managing the financial affairs of the church will all be listed. What won't be on the job description is calling out and training the next generation of pastors.  As a result, new pastors aren't being brought into a leadership pipeline.

What makes that interesting is Jesus spent most of His time teaching the disciples. We don't have a record of most of Jesus' ministry because He spent most of His time alone with his disciples. The Apostle Paul wrote letters to young pastors Timothy and Titus. When you read the Pastoral Epistles, Paul is giving these young pastors instructions on how to select church leaders. You would think the letters  would be about evangelism, but they're not. The letters are almost entirely about how a pastor chooses leaders.

Could it be we have forgotten half of the job of the pastor? How do we get our pastors to understand that one of the most important things they can do is prepare a leader for the next generation? Most pastors I know love the church. Wouldn't loving the church include providing leadership for the church's future? The only way this crisis is solved is when every pastor is training another pastor. Every Paul makes a Timothy.

How do we begin to do this? First, Jesus told us to pray for workers. Throughout the Scriptures we're reminded God doesn't choose leaders the way the world does. Pray for those God has prepared for ministry to open their lives to God's call.

Second, Give your time to making leaders. Most of Jesus' ministry was spent alone with the disciples. There's no secret sauce to this. There's no shortcut. It's life on life. The African-American church does this better than anyone. Find any leader in the black church who making an impact and they will be able to tell you their spiritual lineage. "I studied under this bishop who was trained by this bishop..." on and on they can go.

Third, send them out. New pastors aren't trained until they're doing it on their own. Stay in touch. Too many of our pastors feel like they are fighting this battle all by themselves. Keep on training and coaching. Effective ministry requires life long learning.

So, let me ask my pastor friends, "Who are you praying for?"

"Who are you encouraging and coaching?"

"Who are you preparing to give your baton too?"

As I used to tell the young pastors on my staff, "One day, I'm going to have to sit out in the congregation and listen to you. I want to make sure you're worth listening to!"