Editor’s note: This column was written by a member of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Shepherds Collective. For more information, visit sbtexas.com/networks/shepherds-collective.

In late 2024, I stepped in as senior pastor elect of my church, beginning an 11-month transition after a pastor who had served faithfully for nearly 30 years.

If you’ve heard stories of pastoral transitions, you know they can be difficult. But by God’s grace—and thanks to a thoughtful plan put in place by the previous pastor, David Lindow—my experience was overwhelmingly positive. It was good for me and my family, good for the church, and even good for the outgoing pastor.

Pastoral transitions come in all shapes and sizes, and no two are exactly alike. Still, I hope the following reflections from my experience can encourage pastors and churches preparing for a similar season.

Make sure the plan is clear

If you’re stepping into a role like this, be sure you understand the plan. If it’s vague, ask for clarity. Know who makes the decisions, when authority will officially be transferred, and what your job description is during the overlap. Clarity prevents confusion and protects relationships.

Spend lots of time with the outgoing pastor

Not everyone can do this, but if you’re able, make it a priority. I learned so much from our outgoing pastor—not only about the history of the church, but about ministry itself. Even after a decade of pastoring, those conversations were invaluable. I still meet regularly with Pastor David.

This time together also helps prevent unspoken frustrations or misunderstandings. Healthy communication builds trust on both sides.

Lead with humility and patience

This applies equally to the incoming and outgoing pastor. The biggest blessing in our transition was the humility and graciousness of the outgoing pastor. From Day 1, I was welcomed into leadership conversations and treated with respect, even though I was still new.

But I also had to be patient. I had plenty of ideas and hopes for the future, but a transition—especially a long one—takes time. I set a years-long timeline for changes, not a months-long one.

Honor the outgoing pastor

Pastor David and I get along very well, which helped immensely. But even in joking, I tried never to dishonor him, even unintentionally. Keep disagreements (even small ones) private and respectful. Be present for every celebration of the outgoing pastor’s ministry. Honoring faithful service is good for those being recognized, good for the church, and good for your own heart.

Love God’s people

This one feels obvious, but it’s essential. Get to know your people. Love them, preach the gospel clearly, and shepherd them well. Attend meetings—even just to learn—and see the church through others’ eyes.

I loved having 11 months before officially becoming senior pastor. It allowed me to meet deacons, leaders, staff, and members, and it gave the church time to get comfortable with me. Relationships take time, but people can sense genuine love very quickly.

Be yourself

When I went in view of a call, I told the church I could never replace Pastor David—I’m not him. But I promised to serve faithfully as the man God made me to be. If you’re not secure in your identity as a child of God, transitions like this may feel especially heavy. So keep walking closely with the Lord. It matters more than you think.

At the end of the day, a pastoral transition isn’t ultimately about the outgoing or incoming pastor. It’s about serving Christ’s church well. When we lay aside our egos and trust the Lord, transitions like this can not only work—they can become a beautiful testimony to God’s faithfulness in His church.

Editor’s note: This column was written by a member of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Shepherds Collective. For more information, visit sbtexas.com/networks/shepherds-collective.

I’m a dreamer. I constantly look at our church, my life, and everything around me wondering how things could be better. And while holy discontentment aided by godly ambition is a good thing in ministry, an insatiable desire for more can be a pastor’s downfall. At its core, an excessive obsession of progress, gain, or power is the overflow of a greedy heart.

Greed is a sin many of us are aware of, but that we do not think we struggle with. In fact, when Tim Keller prepared to teach on the seven deadly sins early in his ministry, his wife rightly predicted that the week on greed would be the lowest attended of the classes. While some pastors are willing to admit to being an impatient father or a short-tempered leader, no one thinks of themselves as a greedy person.

Greed is most often considered in its most obvious form: financial greed. But greed at its core is a self-centered, obsessive, insatiable desire for more. In other words, it’s a heart condition that can manifest by obsessively wanting something more and being willing to do nearly whatever it takes to attain it.

Is there one thing you can’t live or do ministry without? In the depths of your heart, what do you hope to receive at the end of each Sunday’s sermon? What keeps you from quitting each Monday morning? What is the next goal you think will finally make ministry not as difficult? What is the one thing you want more and more of, but somehow you never seem to get enough of?

It could be money, power, or fame. It could also be the desire to be liked, complimented, or simply recognized for all the long hours you put into caring for your church. It could be wanting to control your own schedule so you can truly give yourself to what you love. It could be the desire to know how to respond to every difficult pastoral situation that walks in your office. Or it could be wishing one day your church was big enough to not have to deal with the problems plaguing you today.

The danger of ministerial greed is that self-centeredness is baptized in the waters of ministry, and we end up chasing a romanticized mirage rather than Jesus. Left unchecked, the desires of our heart end up driving our ministry. And if its dissatisfaction doesn’t spur you on to try harder, it may end up leaving you feeling alone, bitter, and hopeless.

Pause right now and pray Psalm 139:23-24 to God. Ask Him to search you, your heart, and your thoughts to see if there is any grievous way within you. Ask the Spirit to convict you of any ill motive or carnal desire in your ministry. If the Spirit convicts you, confess your sin to God. Confess your sin to trusted pastors or brothers He has placed around you. Pray that God would lead you in His everlasting way, that your heart may be fully content in Jesus, and that your life and ministry might be aimed toward His glory alone.

Brother pastor, if greed has crept into your heart, there is no greater thing you can do than to bring it to the light, walking in transparency before God and in community. Invite people into the depths of your soul, asking them to pray for your heart. This is not fun or easy work, but it is necessary—not just for your ministry, but for your soul. Look at the assurances of 1 John 1:5-9 and James 5:16: God promises forgiveness, cleansing, healing, and fellowship to all those who lay their hearts bare before Him and His people. Then and only then will we be able to lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).

A greedy heart will never be satisfied unless it is redeemed and transformed by the all-satisfying power of Jesus. God has put eternity in man’s heart, and Christ alone will truly satisfy his deepest longings. As Augustine confessed, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

Only when you come to Jesus and rest your heart in Him can you find true, lasting satisfaction.

Editor’s note: This column was written by a member of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Shepherds Collective. For more information, visit sbtexas.com/networks/shepherds-collective.

My son ought to be given a black belt in misplacing items. He’s fluent in it. When he was younger, I opened the pantry to find a warm carton of milk. I laughed on that occasion, but what wouldn’t be comical is to regularly go looking for milk in the pantry. That would be senseless. The pantry is not milk’s home.

I’m convinced it’s the same with our sin. We go looking for all the things Christ offers in all the wrong places—and pastors are no exception. One misplaced and prevalent sin in the life of a pastor is anger. It’s historically known as one of the seven deadly sins because it is highly volatile like old dynamite. Anger is old, universal, and complicated.

We find it in the first family. After God rejected his offering, Cain “was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?’” (Genesis 4:5b-6).

Anger is as old as Adam’s family and it’s as universal as air. We’ve all felt it. A member prefers your predecessor’s preaching. A Sunday school teacher steps down during the holidays. A family leaves for petty reasons. You work with excellence on a project only for it to be misunderstood by the congregation. And right amid these disappointments, anger wells up like Old Faithful.

Anger is also complicated. God gets angry (Psalm 7:11), and yet He cannot sin (1 John 1:5; Psalm 92:15; Habakkuk 1:13). Anger isn’t inherently evil. God’s anger against sin—which is a form of love—motivates His judgment. Pastor, our problem with anger isn’t that we feel it; it’s that we misappropriate it. We decide a certain reality is intolerable, and our anger rushes in to defend what we cherish.

When anger rises, we must ask the same question God asked Cain: Why am I angry?

Take a simple example: a deacon suggests you wear a sports coat. Why does that comment feel painful? Perhaps you feel he’s questioning your competence, maybe threatening your freedom, or making you feel insecure. Whatever the case, your anger exposes a cherished idol—competence, freedom, or praise—that feels threatened.

So, we see red and spiral. We vent (baptized gossip). We defy the command, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19b). In worst-case scenarios, we let loose our tongue, leaving a wake of hurt. In the best-case scenarios, we become embittered, writing people off.

OK, all this is really bad news. What is a pastor to do? Here are four simple steps to help you defeat anger.

Ask early

Right when you begin feeling angry, ask the question: Why am I angry? This will help you understand if your anger is righteous or not. Are you being selfish with your time, schedule, or money? You might just find that your anger is all about you.

Repent immediately

Don’t let the sun set on this deadly sin. An angry pastor will be more inclined to wound sheep, breed fear surrounding their leadership, and distort grace—particularly if unrighteous anger seeps out in public settings. Take it to the Lord in prayer immediately.

Remember rightly

Anger grows out of misplaced affection, out of treasuring something more than God. When we interpret a situation as unacceptable, anger rushes in to protect our conclusion. Thus, we become beholden to something lesser than God and His glory. And in that, we lose out. We miss God’s best for us. We forfeit wonder. We become calloused to intimacy. Anger is a thief.

Love outrageously

Love is the virtue that puts anger in its place. Love is the great commandment. The more we love God and God’s people, the less we will give way to the sin of anger.

Deep down, I believe we want the carton of cold milk—which is Jesus and His presence. But anger keeps us reaching into the pantry only to come up with something far less than it’s supposed to be. Almost every instance of anger pulls us away from the fulfillment we long for in Christ and the joy we desire in our pastoral work.

Pastor, Christ offers something better. We don’t have to be awash in the deadly sin of anger.