Breakout virtues for pastors

I’m probably the last kid on my block to finish reading “Breakout Churches” by Thom Rainer. It’s an important book. Clearly it is derived in a great degree from Jim Collins’ “Good to Great.” This fact does not detract from the contribution Dr. Rainer is making because of the thorough research that allows him to usefully adapt the best principles of GTG for churches.

In brief, Breakout Churches is a study of 53,000 U.S. churches to find qualities of a church that allows it to beat the odds. To qualify as a breakout church, a congregation must have moved through a time of decline, crisis, and then into dynamic growth without changing pastors.

Many great churches do not qualify because they have not been through this decline or because their dynamic growth followed a pastoral change. Dubious at first, I’ve come to understand that these criteria make the study more useful.

Most churches will never be that great church (as we judge greatness) but by looking at the principles God used to revitalize another ministry we can gain insight about our own churches. To put it another way, most pastors cannot compare their ministry challenges/opportunities to those of a 20,000 member gigachurch without despairing. The breakout churches were where most churches are today and they found new life without firing their pastor.

The research team for Breakout Churches was surprised to find only 13 churches that fit the profile. They projected that if they’d been able to study all the 400,000 American churches, they might have found 100. Two of Breakout Churches’s 13 are Southern Baptist; eight of the 13 are outside the Bible Belt. Read the book, you’ll find something useful.

Three pastoral virtues loomed especially large as I read Breakout Churches. These seem significant because they are so basic and accessible. For the most part, they’re things we already know we should be doing while conducting the ministry God has given us.

Humility–I’m convinced this is the key Christian virtue. The big three, faith, hope and love, must be exercised in an awareness of our place before God and man.

Jim Collins noticed this quality in CEOs of outstanding companies. Thom Rainer noticed it in the 99th percentile pastors of his breakout churches. He noticed it in a way not typical of other churches and pastors they studied. They did not seek reward or recognition; they are more impressed with what God is doing than with themselves. They are less quick to blame others for problems or take credit for success. At the same time it is not a trait that vacates ambition, vision or leadership.

Our clearest example comes in Philippians 2 where we are urged to have the mind of Christ. This passage is far easier to preach and teach than it is to live out. Jesus did not demand respect or perks or any of the trappings of authority, but he still had authority and used it in submission to the Father.

Notice elsewhere in this issue of the Texan a report of the top reasons for pastoral staff terminations in 2005. The top five are always the top five and they have to do with relationship issues, not doctrine, not even competence. Of course a part of these conflicts will be the fault of the involved churches. Pastoral humility will nonetheless recast church fights over control, leadership style and “people skills.” Humility is a mark of great leaders and great Christians of all vocations. It also the often-cited character of Christ, whom we are sworn to follow.

Diligence–The significant role of just plain hard work is both challenging and encouraging. Dr. Rainer’s research noted that the average pastor in his study devoted five hours per week to prayer and study related to his teaching/preaching ministry. The breakout pastors spent an average 24 hours per week preparing for this ministry. The span between average and elite here is simply staggering.

The challenge is obviously finding more time to do this important aspect of ministry. The encouragement is that this is something you can do that does not require a charisma transplant. In fact, while 98 percent of the pastors expressed a clear call to ministry–the most basic level of leadership–moving into the second level and the more elite 22 percent of pastors required only “taking time to do well the basics of Christian ministry such as preaching, teaching, and prayer.” It’s challenging but doable. More importantly, we already know we must be doing that to be good stewards of our ministry.

This was Paul’s admonition to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4 and 2 Timothy 3. The entire book is sprinkled with admonitions to “teach,” “instruct,” “devote yourself,” and so on. Look at Jesus’ example during his temptation in the wilderness. I am convinced that he did not quote passages from Deuteronomy because as God he wrote them but because as a man he studied them diligently.

If this basic discipline is common to the pastors of extraordinary churches, that correlation is not likely to be a coincidence. On the matter of time availability we must also ask ourselves if we are really busier than they or are we just busy in service of different things than they?

A final thought on diligence. I wonder if there is a correlation between a neglect of study and prayer and relationship problems between pastors and congregations. I’ve seen these conflicts from ore than one perspective and know the temptation to scurry about marshalling people to a side of the conflict. It’s not generally a good use of time and it does not often pay off. Instead, basic elements of ministry suffer from neglect to an even greater degree because we’re off doing more urgent things.

I suspect that pastors who are forced from their ministries are even below the norm in the time they devote to their primary ministry of the Word. Would they have been able to avoid a train wreck by greater diligence in their preaching/teaching ministry?

Persistence—Staying put may be the crucial test of outstanding ministries. This seems to be true of great ministries that do not fit the breakout church model. The pastors of the remarkable churches identified in Breakout Churches were at their ministries an average 21 years when book was published. That’s about six times the length of time for an average church’s pastoral tenure. Again, when the span between great and average is so wide it doesn’t see coincidental.

To answer your next question, more typical churches were not found to have different types or degrees of problems than breakout churches. The challenges that tempt an average pastor to move on also tempt the pastors of breakout churches to leave. The difference is that they didn’t. A change in the direction of their churches often started shortly after they resolved to stay in place.

Their testimonies also indicate that they suffered because they chose to stay, but their wounds have become part of who they are in current ministry. They were changed, sometimes scarred, but also more fit for the next phase of their ministries.

Jesus’ example in the garden as he submitted his will to that of the Father is one of continued faithfulness. Paul’s testimony that he would rather go on to heaven than to stay in his ministry is accompanied by his submission to the belief that God would keep him here for a while longer. Fearful things can be a test we need to pass before God can trust us with greater things.

I acknowledge that these virtues set a high standard that many pastors currently strive toward. The harsh truth is that this is not always the case. The oft-quoted figure of 80 percent of churches being in decline was not just pulled out of the air. Dr. Rainer has given us some research that puts it pretty much on target. He’s also given us some clues as to why this might be true.

There is no system that guarantees God’s blessing on any ministry. He has, however, given us repeated guidance toward these three virtues and others that will “save both yourself and you hearers.”