Remember, a great pastor and a great preacher are not necessarily synonyms! In fact, it is the rare man who combines the qualities that make for both a great pastor and a great preacher.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what most churches want . . . a great pastor and a great pulpiteer. It is also unfortunate that getting such a man is a rare accomplishment and even then one that is often short lived.
This is not an easy question to answer. The difficulty comes from the fact that each requires particular gifts, skills and focus.
If a man is to be a great pulpiteer then he will need large amounts of time to give attention to study, prayer and personal devotion. He will need to focus on sermon preparation and delivery.
On the other hand, if a man is to be a great pastor he is going to need to dedicate large blocks of time to being "with" his people. He will need to discover their needs and how he should respond to them. His people skills will need to be finely honed.
It is my opinion that very few people can embody both of these at the same time. For one obvious reason . . . .time. The pastor only has so much time and to be great at one means to neglect the other to some degree. My experience is that once a church determines what there greatest need it (Pulpiteer or pastor) then they choose a man strong in that and adequate in the other.
Of course the ideal circumstance is a division of responsibility. That is, there should be a someone who is a great pastor and someone who is a great pulpiteer. However, in small to medium size churches this is not financially feasible unless they can locate a older or retired senior pastor to take on the "pastoral" duties and allow the senior pastor to be devoted to proclamation of the Gospel.
With this in mind I want to offer some suggestions on how to recognize a Great Pastor and a Great Preacher (pulpiter). Remember, a great pastor and a great preacher are not necessarily synonyms!
So, how can you spot a great pastor?
What I want to talk about now is what makes a man a great pastor? The answer is not a simple one and yet it is not difficult. Virtually any man called of God to the pastoral ministry can be a great pastor. The same cannot be said of a great pulpiteer.
So the first decision you must make is, “Do we need a Great Pastor or a Great Pulpiteer? If the answer is a great pastor here are some of the qualities for which I suggest you look.
I would begin by suggesting being a great pastor begins with his call from God to pastoral ministry. I never defined myself as having been called to pastoral ministry. I was specifically called to “preach the Gospel.” Anything I did as a pastor was learned through study or practice because it was required as a part of the structure of Baptist churches at the time I was called by God to preach. As a pastor, I was as my friend, the late Lester Collins used to say, “adequate.
However, the common denominator for both “great pulpiteers” and “great pastors” is a sense of a distinctive call by God on their lives to serve in that capacity.
Second, I would suggest that a great pastor does not “feel” his way along. That is, he doesn’t “fly by the seat of his pants” making things up as he plods along. The great pastor has a goal in mind and that is to apply the ancient truths of Scripture to the times in which he and his congregants live. He cares about his flock but also cares about ancient truth and how it applies to modern times. He begins with the unchanging and then applies them to the world of change. Bottom line, his goal is to enable his congregants to live out those ancient and unchanging truths in their daily lives. His greatest joy is to see them grow in spiritual maturity.
As someone has said, “He knows you cannot step into the same river twice exactly as it was, but that the Nile endures.” A great pastor cares more about Jesus (and then you) than about the “program” of the institution. A great pastor is a man enabled by God, not to build a church, but to get us ready for life and death.
A great pastor is not into himself. He spends a great amount of his time helping people who cannot help him. If you are sick, he comes to visit you; if you are hungry, he finds a way to provide you with food; if you are in prsion, he visits you. When doing this he does not distinguish between members based on socio-economic circumstances. He moves toward the need. He ares for both the up and out and the down and out. Your wealth or station in life does not speed nor does is slow his response to your need. As Jesus said, “he cares for his sheep” . . . all of his sheep. He does not hate the rich or the poor . . . but loves people. Simply stated, the love of God flows through him so he does not see a person and first think: problem. Insteadd, he sees the sheep of his flock and thinks: “How can I help?”
So, if your church needs a great Pastor the man I just described is the kind you need to be looking at. Then, when you get him do not be critical if he turns out to be a great pastor but an average or even mediocre pulpiteer.
How do you recognize a Great pulpiteer?
Now if your church needs a great pulpiteer more than a great pastor. This is a little easier. Basically, you listen and observe him when he is preaching in his normal setting. Quiet frankly, every preacher has what we call his "sugar stick" sermons that are reserved for pulpit (Pastor Search Committees) committees and church considering calling them.
Let me suggest that Great Pulpiteers have a charisma about them brought on by the absolutely rock solid conviction they have that they are called by God to preach the Gospel. I recommend when you have decided to interview that the first two questions you ask are (1) "Would you please share you salvation experience?" and (2) Was their a specific time in your life when God "called" you to preach? Could you share that with us?"
I would then look at study habits. What is his study routine? How much time does he give to sermon preparation? This will be indicative of his commitment to Biblical preaching. It doesn't matter whether his preaching style is expository, textual or topical as long as it is fundamentally Biblical.
Does he appear comfortable in the pulpit? He may be shy and retiring in relationships but when he stands at the pulpit he needs to do so in a consciousness that he stands there in the authority of God. He is speaking for God to God's people and there must be a certainty to his message and appearance. He is not sharing his thoughts with us, rather, he is declaring God's word to us. Is there a "Thus saith Lord" in his preaching?
Are his sermon relevant to the times in which we live. One of the things that both the Great Pastor and the Great pulpiteer have in common is the ability to take the ancient text and bring it to life in the present moment.
I told you this was easier. So your church needs a great pulpiteer and you have found and called the person you believe to be the person to whom God has led you. Once that is done don't criticize him for being an average or mediocre pastor when you called him as a Great pulpiteer.
Now in passing. Great pulpiteers generally produce growing churches that in time begin to sense a need for someone given to pastoral ministry. However, before thinking about a change in leadership when the need for a pastor begins to increase. Instead of new leadership think of additional leadership.
WARNING: My experience has been a church will all too often call a prophet when they in fact want a priest, That is, they call an individual with great preaching skills when in fact they really want someone who is great at pastoral ministry.
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