Why Pastors Don't Disciple
According to a Barna report that came out a few years back, the aspect of ministry that pastors love most - by far - is preaching/teaching. To their way of thinking, nothing beats addressing the crowd.
In the same study, however, the greatest frustration pastors admitted to is a lack of commitment from their parishioners.
This is telling. Apparently, the thing pastors spend the most time preparing for and engaging in is not bearing the desired results.
What’s striking is that the greatest communicator who ever lived recognized that preaching to the crowds bore limited fruit as it relates to spiritual transformation. Thus it was that while Jesus didn’t ignore His larger audience, He spent a significant amount of time investing in a few men.
Jesus recognized that preaching to the crowds resulted in limited spiritual transformation. Thus it was that while Jesus didn’t ignore His larger audience, He spent a significant amount of time investing in a few.
While slow, history has proven that this strategy was exceedingly effective in launching a movement. Yet, ironically, that which Jesus modeled is the one thing most pastors don’t do. Again, from Barna, by far, one of their least favorite tasks is discipling believers.
Why is this the case? What are the reasons why pastors don’t disciple people in the way of Jesus?
Here are a few I’ve discovered.
1. Pastors are trained to focus on their study of the Word and their preaching to the crowds.
Seminaries focus on educating their students in theology, word studies, sermon preparation, and sermon delivery rather than elevating the value of and teaching them how to invest in a few.
2. Churches expect their pastors to spend the majority of their time on the Sunday morning large group experience.
Ask most church attendees what their pastor should be doing, and they will point to the successful delivery of spiritual goods and services on Sunday.
3. Churches measure success by the number who attend the services rather than by the number who are discipled.
The metrics of success in most churches are quite simple: noses and nickels – how many attended and how much was given.
4. Pastors really don’t know where to start with personal discipleship because they were not personally discipled.
Not having experienced discipleship in the way of Jesus, most pastors don’t know how to do it (and they’re ashamed to admit it).
5. Pastors fear being accused of favoritism if they spend more time with a chosen few than they do with others.
Most church attendees expect their pastor to be equally available to all and frown when they observe a select group getting more time.
6. It’s time-consuming to meet with a few in both organized and organic ways.
A weekly organized meeting of an hour or so accompanied by organic (hanging out) time takes precious hours – hours that could be spent on more “useful” endeavors.
7. It’s a slow process that will take years before any momentum is realized.
If you spend 12-18 months with a small group of disciples (by the way, Jesus spent three years!), it will be quite some time before these disciples start investing in the second generation.
8. Some who have tried to disciple a few have been discouraged to see that their investment did not pay off in the dividend of multiplication.
While one would hope that spending the time and making the sacrifice for a few would result in all of them embracing that challenge, not all will.
9. Discipleship as a concept has been so reduced to a few spiritual disciplines that it’s believed to be accomplished in a weekend seminar or 6-week class.
When a more robust definition of discipleship is understood, it will become obvious that it can’t be accomplished in a classroom over a short period of time.
10. Pastors have never really been challenged to disciple in the way of Jesus.
Well, I am doing that in this blog post. Only by discipling others in the way of Jesus can we see individuals living in the ways of Jesus.
Only by discipling others in the way of Jesus can we see individuals living in the ways of Jesus.
The Master’s strategy may have been slow and deliberate. And the immediate fruitfulness of His ministry might have been questioned. But the exponential explosiveness of disciples making disciples soon transformed the world.
And who wouldn’t want to know that success?
The Everyday Pastor Blog is brought to you by our partners.
To support Dave DeSelm Ministries by becoming a partner, CLICK HERE.