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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.
There’s a saying that it takes a village to raise a child, and God’s village for raising godly children is the church. God has truly blessed me with a great village of men who have come alongside me to be the pastor I am today.
I began pastoring at 26. I knew I needed help if I was going to pastor well. God’s village stepped into this gap. I reached out to my godly friends and pastors regularly, and I’ve made many phone calls asking for help with problems I never thought I would have to counsel church members through.
It’s not that seeking godly counsel is a bad thing. In fact, it’s biblical. Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” Godly counsel is a blessing to all Christians and especially pastors.
But one of the things I’ve learned about myself over my years of pastoring is how quickly I am to rely on that village rather than on God’s Spirit for guidance. I was so quick to pick up the phone to call pastors who have served longer than me rather than prayerfully waiting on the Lord in prayer on things involving His sheep.
Over time, I realized that if I can get immediate wisdom from godly counsel, it would make my decisions quicker and more informed. What I didn’t realize was how unwise that was in the grand scheme of things.
God’s greatest help to the Christian and pastor is the Holy Spirit. He should not be my second choice, but my first. While it is tempting to seek godly counsel before God’s counsel because of the immediate answers it offers, it is better for us to seek God’s counsel first because He knows His sheep best. He also knows us pastors best! He knows our blind spots, frustrations, worries, and sin. He knows our gifts, experience, and where we thrive. I say this to remind us as church leaders that while it is crucial to have many mentors, counselors, and advisors to call on, we should call on the Lord before any of them.
One of the greatest challenges for pastors is their easy accessibility to resources and wisdom. If you don’t know the answer, someone has written a book on it. If you don’t have time to read the book, you can ask ChatGPT to summarize it. If you to talk to someone about it, you can call your pastor friends. Immediate answers and immediate wisdom are just moments away.
But let me offer a better way forward. Go to the Lord in prayer before you call, Google, or ask. Is that groundbreaking advice? No, but it is the best advice I have. I have found that the more I seek the Lord’s counsel first, the better I can navigate the godly counsel of others, the better I can discern what I should and shouldn’t say, and the better I can relate to the sheep He has called me to care for.
Church leaders, you have myriad problems to navigate. People are looking to you to help them with their spiritual problems. Please seek godly counsel, but not until you have approached the throne of grace first.
