How often do we forget that we, too, are members of the flock? Be intentional about creating a culture among your church’s leadership of caring for one another. Share your burdens. Confess your sins to one another. Pray for one another. Ask how you can serve one another.

You stand alert and watch with vigilance over the flock. At any moment, a wolf could appear. The sheep graze skittishly in a green pasture, but they sense the presence of a good shepherd. There is calm until there isn’t. You are always on high alert. You spend each week leading them into nutrient-rich pastures for nourishment and to cool, still waters to quench their thirst. Then, your hunger and fatigue set in. You, too, need nourishment. What do you crave? The same sustenance as the sheep?

Pastor, before becoming a shepherd, you were and always will be a sheep. You—yes, you, the pastor—need nourishment. Pastoral ministry is joyfully exhausting. But if you aren’t careful, it will only be exhausting, and you’ll soon be malnourished.

In the American church context, we sometimes put pastors on pedestals, creating a ministry culture in which the pastor is the center of attention. The result is that the pastor forgets he also needs the same nourishment as those under his care. He feeds but rarely eats.

I want to share some thoughts on preventing a culture of pastoral idolatry for healthy pastoral longevity. First, let me give you four negative consequences of this kind of culture. Then I’ll follow up with four healthy practices to help prevent pastoral idolatry.

Four negative consequences

1. Lack of Accountability

Sometimes people place pastors in the same category as Old Testament prophets. Prophets received direct revelation from God to communicate to God’s people. Thus, they had “a word” from the Lord. We sometimes apply that language to pastors. “This is God’s man. He has a word for us,” as though he has received special revelation. I don’t want to make too much of this, but the point is that prophets gave us the Bible. Pastors have the Bible, or the word of God, and God has tasked them to exposit it faithfully. Scripture is the authoritative word of God. We should not exalt pastors as recipients of special revelation. Does God equip pastors with the wisdom to apply the Word? Yes! But the canon of Scripture is closed.

When we elevate our pastor too highly, we risk idolizing him, and when a pastor becomes an idol, no one can question him. No one can talk to him about his sins and struggles. This is a dangerous position for the pastor and fosters a culture of unchecked leadership.

2. Lack of Leadership Development

I love how the Apostle Paul gave away his ministry. Listen to his words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1-2: “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Paul knew he couldn’t do ministry alone. There were too many people to which he would never be able to minister. So he multiplied his ministry of the word.

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