Tolerating Intolerance at Expense of Pastors

"An epidemic of forced pastoral terminations has developed in our denomination that are the result, not of moral or even theological issues, but differences in perspectives, styles, values and traditions. Mission becomes secondary, giving way to church politics and stifling opinions.

As a result, thousands of Southern Baptist pastors and ministers have found themselves on the raw end of a church controversy or political scenario that has left many of them and their families just one step short of the "streets" and scrambling to piece together their lives. Furthermore, the damage it can create to children, spouses, and esteem for all can be nothing short of devastating.

Nationwide, about one-third (34 percent) of all pastors surveyed serve a congregation who terminated their previous pastor or who were themselves forced from their last pastoral ministry. In the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) alone, assuming that trends discovered by Life Way Research from seven years ago are still relatively similar, about 1,000 pastors will be force-terminated in calendar year 2008. This is a trend that has continued for nearly two and one-half decades. That's a staggering 25,000 forced pastoral terminations since the early 1980's. So where have all those pastors gone? Many have walked away from the church for good. According to the same LifeWay study, 45 percent have not returned to the pulpit. Rather, they have chosen a different vocation altogether." - Biblical Recorder article

The common scenario of lay leadership at odds with the pastor's vision is becoming -- well, too common. Research indicates that disagreements surrounding issues secondary to the heart of a church's urgent purpose are disrupting and destroying the overall impact of the church.

One against many has become the environment in which the pastor resides in many churches. Deacons, elders, lay-leaders, board members have become accomplices to this unfortunate pattern of behavior. Rather than being protectors of the faith, lay-leaders have allowed the voice of a few opinion leaders to become their own by refusing to stand up against the stagnant voice of tradition.

As a lay-leader, it is time that you protect your congregation from the turnstile habit of tolerating intolerance on matters of style, preference and opinion. Pastors need the support of their lay-leaders to accomplish the urgent purpose of the church. When the trivial is allowed to side-track the essential, everyone suffers.

Listen very carefully at your next meeting to spot the rising tide of criticism under which your pastor strains to stay out of harm's way. Become the defender of purpose in your church, not allowing insignificant issues to distract from the ultimate goal.