Month: July 2023

‘We all make mistakes’

Ahead of his Equip keynote, Lifeway’s Ben Mandrell talks about the beauty of using blunders for our betterment

Lifeway Christian Resources President/CEO Ben Mandrell will be the keynote speaker at the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Equip Conference on Aug. 5 at Sagemont Church in Houston. Mandrell gives vision and strategic leadership to the 132-year-old organization that provides ministry resources for churches in more than 160 countries on six continents. He also hosts the ministry podcast, The Glass House, with his wife, Lynley. Mandrell recently spoke with the Texan about a topic he will speak on at Equip—mistakes.

What’s one of the biggest mistakes you’ve ever made in a ministry context? 

Ben Mandrell: One of my biggest mistakes was I told my church plant [in Colorado] I was going to be there forever. [The church] wanted to know if I was going to plant this church, get it up and running, and move on to the next city. At that moment in my life, I was a 100% convinced I was in Denver for life. I told them I was going to be buried next to Buffalo Bill, because he was famously buried in that area. But Scripture is just so clear about [not] predicting your own future. As much as I wanted to comfort my flock and encourage them that I had no intentions of leaving, what I was really doing was pretending in some weird way that I was sovereign over my life or that I could decide where I was going to be buried. I’ve learned that it’s really good to give people hope and encouragement, but it’s not good to make promises you can’t keep.

Generally speaking, what are some of the biggest mistakes ministry leaders make?

BM: I feel like a lot of pastors—and I’ve been in this boat—we worry so much about how we’re being perceived by outsiders when the ultimate measure of our success is how we are respected by the insiders. There’s an old saying that is so true: you can tell the skill of the shepherd by the condition of the sheep. It doesn’t matter to me how big a church is or how fast it’s growing. There are a lot of things that cause a church to grow. What’s really the best way to tell if a church is healthy is to go inside and look at the condition of the sheep. If they’re attended well, if they’re fed, if they’re cared for, it’s a healthy environment. I heard somebody say once, “Success is when the people who know you best respect you the most.” That’s a definition of success that I think is more biblical than the one that we have, which says that success is when you have the most followers on social media. Most of those people who are following you really have no clue who you really are. 

"Just like Peter, we all make mistakes. We betray the name of Christ. We blow it, and the Lord—because He’s gracious—restores us."

—Ben Mandrell Tweet

For pastors, the nature of their calling frequently thrusts them into positions where the decisions they make, which can sometimes lead to mistakes, are often very public. What advice can you offer to pastors to help them navigate those rocky waters a little more smoothly? 

BM: I think one of the hardest things to do is publicly apologize for a mistake. Yet when people observe somebody owning a mistake, there’s something so endearing about that. It makes you feel connected to that person and [leaves you thinking], “Man, I’m so glad he said that. That makes me feel better about the seven mistakes I made this week!” I don’t know what it is about us as spiritual leaders, but we want to give people the impression that we don’t need grace, that we don’t need forgiveness, that we don’t need anyone to put up with us because we blow it sometimes when that’s exactly what the gospel says. 

The healthiest pastors I know often say things like, “Look, I don’t know if we’re doing this right, but we’ve got to do something, so here’s the path we’re going to take.” And when they communicate things like that, it’s always done in a spirit of [acknowledging] we’ve never been here before. You often don’t know [what to do]—you’re just doing your best to manage a tricky situation. The decision you’re making may be the right decision, but it may not be. Time will tell.

Why are we so afraid—especially in ministry contexts—to make mistakes, and what are some ways we can process our mistakes in a healthier way?

BM: In ministry, I’m either beating myself up for something I should have seen coming or I’m catastrophizing what could happen if this thing gets out of hand. Neither one of those things is healthy. Just like Peter, we all make mistakes. We betray the name of Christ. We blow it, and the Lord—because He’s gracious—restores us. I don’t think Jesus wanted Peter to spend the rest of his life punishing himself for that one night, and I don’t think the Lord wants me to spend the next 10 years lamenting some decision that I made in year one at Lifeway. 

That doesn’t mean I don’t want to cash in on the experience and be better next time because of it. So I think one of the things I’d recommend is surround yourself with people to help you sort out [the different parts of your ministry]. Have a leadership team that has the freedom to challenge you and to speak into your processes. Let people speak into your life who have the gift of discernment and wisdom. That is an invitation into intimacy. … I think having people you trust speak into your pastoral ministry is a rare thing. I just don’t see a lot of pastors doing it. A pastor who thinks he’s got it all [figured out on his own] is sunk. He needs people around him to round out his gifts—but it takes a certain amount of self-awareness to get there.

Saturday, August 5
Sagemont Church  Houston

Equip is designed for anyone serving in the local church and offers leadership training in a wide array of ministry areas. Whether you are a pastor, volunteer, deacon, or church staff Equip has something to help you become a better leader.

Church leaders celebrate life together at SBTC Asian Family Retreat

PEARLAND—The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention hosted its annual Asian Family Retreat June 26-28 at Parkway Baptist Church. The event was designed to encourage pastors, their families, and church leaders to continue working as disciple-makers, spend time together, and be refreshed by listening to preaching from the Word of God.

Tony Mathews, SBTC Missional Ministries senior strategist, opened the retreat by welcoming and praying over pastors from more than 10 countries. Worship was led by First Indonesian Baptist Church and International Victory Church.

David Kim, pastor of Good Community Church in Torrance, Calif., served as the guest speaker. “Evangelism is just the beginning,” Kim said. “The essence [of] discipleship is to save the lost, share the gospel, and live out the gospel.”

Kim referenced the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15:11-32, explaining that the parable “is a perfect example of the heart of our heavenly Father.

“The father in the parable waited every single day, every single hour, asking himself hundreds of times, ‘Will today be the time that my dear son will come back?’” Kim said. “There are hundreds of people [who are] lost, and we are sitting [and] giving hundreds of excuses why we cannot go [and share the gospel with them].”

Kim also shared from Colossians 2:6-7 to inspire pastors to recognize and live under the leadership and lordship of Christ, letting Him be the master of their lives. “Everything in my life is a blessing from God, and it is a privilege given to me by the Master, not a right,” Kim said. “I allowed God to be the control tower of my life.”

Kim also highlighted the importance of discipleship and described a disciple as someone who completely submits to the lordship of Christ and follows the leadership of Christ, resulting in “an overflow of thankfulness to God.”

Retreat participants were given time to gather by regions (Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, etc.,) and by ethnic fellowships to share the strengths, progress, and challenges of their ministries, as well as to assess pastoral and family wellness. Each ethnic group was led by an SBTC representative: Mathews, Jacob Cates, Bruno Molina, and Kaibin Fu. The regional groups were led by Michael Liga, Al Manigsaca, and Hyoung Min Kim.

The SBTC Asian Family Retreat included a track for the wives of pastors. SUBMITTED PHOTO

The retreat also included a time of fellowship, praying, and learning for the pastors’ wives. They were encouraged to pray for one another, develop a way to stay connected, and to serve and glorify God by working together. This time was led by Clara Molina.

Prayer was a major part of the retreat. Various pastors participated in corporate prayer led by Liga and Fu, who each prayed that God would develop a heart of passion and compassion to help those attending share the gospel.

Sastry Meesala from India offered a testimony, and the children who attended the retreat did a presentation. During their free time, families were encouraged to celebrate and spend time with one another doing activities around town or playing games at the church.

“The Christian life is to be a celebration—not because Christian life is easy, but because you get to experience the empowering presence of God even in the dark moments of our lives,” Kim said.

 

Why every staff pastor should make hospital visits

I’m a student pastor and I do hospital visits every week. It’s not that I have a large contingent of sick students, but I’ve realized hospital visits need to be part of every pastor’s ministry—even if you’re not in the lead seat.

It’s no secret the life of a staff pastor can be busy and demanding. With countless responsibilities, from preparing sermons and lessons to counseling church members and overseeing ministry programs, it may be tempting to assume hospital visits are someone else’s job. The sick only want to see the lead pastor anyway, right?

The Bible, however, makes a strong case for every pastor to visit the sick, regardless of his role within the church. James underscores the importance of pastoral care for the sick in James 5:14-15, stating, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.” James expects all the elders—plural—of the church to be involved with the care for the sick.

Moreover, visiting the sick offers practical and spiritual benefits for staff pastors:

It creates community with church members.

When staff pastors visit the sick, it helps create a more unified and compassionate church community. This shared responsibility for pastoral care strengthens the bonds between church members and pastors, fostering a genuine sense of love and support between the leadership and membership. When your student pastor visits a senior adult, your worship pastor visits a child, or your education pastor visits a student, you see relationships form that might have never formed outside a hospital. Some of my favorite relationships with senior adults in our church started because I was able to visit them in the hospital.

It helps you grow in your pastoral skill set.

Visiting the sick offers an opportunity for non-lead pastors to develop essential pastoral skills, such as active listening, empathy, and offering biblical counsel. These skills are invaluable for any pastor, regardless of their specific ministry role. Staff pastors, while called to administrate specific roles, are pastors of the whole church. Developing these skills will help a pastor in any aspect of his ministry.

It allows you to assist other pastors.

Often, one or two pastors make a majority of a church’s hospital visits. In seasons when there are a lot of visits to make, you can serve a friend and co-laborer by helping share that load. This can serve to foster good pastoral relationships on staff and free your brother up to flourish in other elements of his ministry.

Additionally, here are four tips for hospital visits:

Set up a hospital rotation.

If you’re on a church with a larger staff, it may be helpful to schedule a hospital rotation. Our staff assigns a different pastor to cover each day of the week. This allows us to make sure every member gets visited and no one is missed.

Pray and prepare.

Spend time in prayer before making each visit, asking for God’s guidance and wisdom. Be ready to listen and offer encouragement from God’s Word. Think through ways to address theological questions that may come up such as “Why me?” or “Will God heal me?” This will allow you to provide helpful counsel without being caught off guard.

Be present and listen.

During your visit, focus on being fully present with the patient. Listen to their concerns, fears, and hopes and offer genuine empathy and understanding. Don’t make the visit seem like you’re checking off a box, but instead, show the patient you genuinely care about them.

Don’t forget the gospel.

There is no better news when you’ve found out your body is breaking down than being reminded God will one day raise our bodies up. While we pray for people and counsel them in difficult situations in the hospital, never forget the best news we can give them is not getting better in this life, but a glorious resurrection purchased by Christ that is coming for all who believe in Him. Make sure to always share this good news with visiting a lost person.