Leading when you’re the youngest in the room

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 was 31 when I preached my first sermon as a senior pastor. Compared to many figures throughout church history (and many rookie pastors today!), that’s not remarkably young. But if you were to ask many of those who were present for that first sermon, they would have said it was remarkable (“I’ve got grandkids your age!”). Even before then, at age 23, I was called to lead volunteers twice or even three times my age.

Most pastors and staff find themselves leading people who are older than they are. How can we lead well when we don’t have certain life experiences, relational capital, or a proven track record? We know 1 Timothy 4:12, but how can we be an example for those beyond us in years?

Lead from the front

By the front, I’m referring mainly to the pastor’s weekly responsibility of proclaiming God’s Word and applying it to God’s people.

In Herman Melville’s book Moby Dick, Ishmael stumbles into the Whaleman’s Chapel. The pulpit is shaped like the bow of a ship so that the preacher resembles a captain peering out over the waters. This imagery is not lost on Ishamel, who recognizes that “the pulpit leads the world.” As the bow of a ship must break through waves and set clear direction for the crew, so the pulpit of a local church must be stewarded as an opportunity to lead, especially for the young pastor.

As a younger pastor handles the text faithfully, applies pastorally, and preaches dependently, others will notice—including the older saints. While we’ve heard it before, it’s worth noting again (and reminding ourselves every Monday morning) that Paul’s command to the young Timothy was to preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:2). So much is out of our control as pastors, but that’s within it. As we rightly handle God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:15), we trust that the saints will follow. In his book, The Art of Pastoring, David Hansen writes, “The people of God will follow the pastor who feeds them the Word of God. That isn’t to say that they won’t balk once in a while … But week in and week out, year in and year out, Christians will not cut themselves off from the one who sets their spiritual table.”

Young pastors, lead from the front by handling God’s Word with accuracy, passion, and compassion, and believe that the Lord is building trust among those who hear you.

Lead from below

If preaching constitutes leading from the front, humility constitutes leading from below. Even in our preaching, our humility should be evident. Our tone, our illustrations, and our applications should all be clothed in gentleness, pointing our hearers to Christ and not ourselves.

I’m talking about the sorts of ministry realities we have outside the pulpit: meetings, conversations in the hallway, the senior adult lunch, hospital visits, a card to a recent widow, a kind text message. If you can exude genuine humility in these spaces, your older members will see and embrace it.

Many of them already wonder if they have a contribution to make, and any whiff of arrogance threatens to accentuate their feelings of increasing irrelevance. If you can walk humbly alongside your congregation, you’ll help them feel valued and needed.

So don’t rush the conversation with an older saint. Walk slowly in the sanctuary before the service. Remember their grandkids’ names. Celebrate and honor the past. Poke fun at yourself. Humility has a knack for creating trust; after all, if they know you’re not in it for you but for them, they’ll grow to trust your discernment and decision-making. The only way to arrive there is through the habit and discipline of walking in lowly, Christlike humility.

Lead from above

By above, I don’t mean abusive or autocratic authority. Rather, I mean leading confidently in the role God has called you to and not shying away from the responsibility to lead even in discomfort and uncertainty.

If leading from the front is about preaching, and leading from below is about humility, then leading from above is about, well, leading. In other words, God has called you to lead regardless of your age. That means you shoulder the responsibilities, pressure, and expectations a leader assumes. For younger men, that will often include insecurities, doubts, and lingering questions about effectiveness. Yet none of those are reasons to fail to lead.

Here’s what I’ve learned: People appreciate leaders, even if they are younger. Don’t lead recklessly, but do not be afraid to take prayerful risks and take your people to places that may feel different or foreign. All the classic pastoral advice applies: Move carefully, show them in Scripture why this is necessary, encourage rather than drive, and the like. But above all—lead. Leadership by nature means we’re stepping into unknown places, unsure of how all this will go. Lead them anyway.

Being among the youngest in the room can be intimidating. But I think it’s a great opportunity to flip the script: You get to know, learn from, and love these men and women who have in some cases walked with Jesus longer than you’ve been alive. God, in His kind providence, has called you to serve and lead them in this season of your life and in this season of their lives.

Given that truth, fear not—lead from the front through preaching, lead from below through humility, and lead from above in your God-given calling as a shepherd.