21 Things We Need From Pastors In 2017

I believe we are living in the Golden Age of pastors.  In my opinion, never in human history has there been so many gifted communicators.  For instance, in the Atlanta area alone there are nationally-known communicators like Crawford Loritts, Michael Youssef, Andy Stanley, Charles Stanley, Craig Oliver, Kevin Myers, Johnny Hunt, Mike Linch, Ike Reighard, Brian Bloye, JR Lee, Bryant Wright, Creflo Dollar, Dr. Cynthia Hale, Jentezen Franklin, Rob McDowell, Jeff Henderson and Louie Giglio.  These pastors are all within 45 minutes of my house.
Never have pastors been more educated.  With the creation of social media, there has never been the ability to communicate with so many as quickly and effectively.  The books Christian leaders write are life-changing.  And never in human history has there been so much creativity in terms of the communication and presentation of the Gospel message.
We want our pastors to work on their craft, to be prepared, to think of new and creative ways to communicate the timeless message of Jesus Christ.  But because of the over-abundance of pastoral talent and our access to it, we no longer need slickness and craftiness.  But there are things we do need.

1. When you stand up on Sunday, we do not need you to impress us with your brilliance and insight.  We just need to know you have been with alone with God and He has marked your life.
2. We do not need a talk.  We need you to have a message for us from The Ancient of Days addressing the issues we face at this point and time in human history.
3. We need you to have calloused knees on our behalf.
4. We need you to elevate the importance of The Bible.  It is God’s Word on paper and we want to know what it says.
5. We need you to preach the inerrancy of Scripture, the Virgin Birth, the sinless life of Jesus, and Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection.
6. We need you to tell people there is a Heaven and a hell and everyone will go to one or the other.
7. We need you to challenge us to live righteous and holy lives.
8. We need you to prioritize the pursuit of personal holiness over the pursuit of personal freedoms.
9. We need you to be a picture of the desired destination at which you wish for us to arrive.
10. We need you to put your relationship with God above all else and your family second.

But we also need you to know many other things:

1. We need you to know how much we love and admire you.
2. We need you to know how often we pray for you.
3. We need you to know how much we appreciate the fact you could make far more money consulting or in corporate America but you choose to pastor sheep like us.
4. We need you to know how much we look forward to hearing you each Sunday.
5. We need you to know we have you and your family’s back.
6. We need you to know we were glad you were there at our most defining moments – weddings, funerals, baptisms and baby dedications.
7. We need you to know how sorry we are for saying stupid, uneducated and ill-advised things we deeply regretted later on.
8. We need you to know we should have paid you more.
9. We need you to know that if you need anything, all you have to do is ask.
10. We need you to know how glad we are you did not resign this past Monday but decided to come back for another Sunday.

Finally, let me conclude my thoughts by telling you the 21st thing we need from pastors in 2017.  We need you to know how much we really, really need you in 2017.  Thank you for being our pastor.

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