COVID-19 was hard. It was hard in the workload it created as churches transitioned ministry to online and attempted to care for families despite limited contact. Then there was the transition back to live services, which brought an even greater workload since we had to maintain online and do full-blown live services.
Our culture has become absolutely polarized politically. If you don’t agree with me, you are the “enemy.” There’s no thoughtful discussion or consideration of other viewpoints. This same attitude penetrated the church during COVID-19. If you re-opened, you were reckless and jeopardizing lives. A super-spreader of a life-threatening disease. If you didn’t re-open, you were a bad Christian and weren’t trusting God to protect you. When you did re-open, if you required masks, you were infringing on people’s civil liberties. If you didn’t require masks, you were a public threat. Christians were vicious to one another—and their pastors.
Here’s why this hit us as pastors so hard:
- The workload was overwhelming.
- People who we thought were friends turned on us.
- A significant portion of our flock chose not to return even when it was safe to do so, and it felt as if years of work were lost. It will require a monumental effort just to get back to where we were numerically pre-COVID-19.
Bottom line, many pastors are running dry physically and emotionally. The answer is we need a reset.
If we keep looking out in the congregation each week hoping the stragglers will find their way back, we will forever be disappointed. They are not coming back, at least not any time soon. We need to reset our expectation. Throw away pre-COVID-19 numbers. Start measuring from when you re-opened to where you are now. Chances are those numbers represent a strong growth curve, and that’s something you can celebrate.
One of the primary roles of a pastor is to gather as many sheep as possible. We all know that for people to come and join your church they need to like us. This reality means that as pastors, we perpetually serve in hazardous territory. It’s only one small step from trying to engage people and have them like us to becoming people pleasers. A big part of the emotional hemorrhaging we have experienced as pastors is people we built relationships with have since left, and it felt like they betrayed us. In all likelihood the reason this hits so deeply is because we crossed that line into people pleasing, and their rejection feels profoundly personal. Which leads to reset No. 2.
You and I were never to serve for the applause of men. In reality, much of what we are called to do as pastors makes us unpopular with the crowd and even other Christians. You and I strive for the applause of One. If everyone else jeers but Jesus stands to his feet and says “Well done,” that’s enough. With the extra load we’ve carried during COVID-19, with all the people who have so easily walked away, if you and I have remained faithful, then my guess is that Jesus is cheering for us louder than ever. We simply have been listening to the wrong audience. Turn your ear towards him, and my guess is you’ll hear life-giving praise.
Linn Winters is senior pastor of Cornerstone Church.
