Ten Tips for New Pastors
I was ordained in 2000 and in the years since, I’ve learned some things about pastoral ministry. In what follows, I’ll share ten practical tips. These go beyond what should be understood by every pastor: keep your focus on the gospel, preach Christ urgently, pray for your people fervently, be careful with “gold, girls, and glamour.” I don’t want to say that those things go without saying, because there are plenty who take them for granted. They’re crucially important to God-honouring ministry, but you’ll hear that advice from countless others. My practical tips are more along the lines of what you might not hear from anyone else.
Always Take a Sabbath
Taking a day off is a basic discipline every pastor must learn. It helps stave off burn-out, it serves your wife and children, and it also corresponds to God’s plan for us to rest one day per week. I always took off Saturdays. I originally did that because it was the day my kids had off from school and I wanted to spend time with them. I always tried to get everything prepared for Sunday by Friday night, and then with Saturday off, I’d be well-rested for Sunday. Other pastors prefer taking off Mondays – to each his own.
Read a Book about Preaching Each Year
It’s crucially important to continue developing as a preacher. You do that as you gain experience, but also as you learn from others. Many good books have been written about preaching and newer ones are appearing each year. But don’t ignore the older authors like Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
Keep Working with Your Biblical Languages
Language skills are perishable. If you don’t use them, you lose them. You spent all that time learning Greek and Hebrew in seminary, what a shame it would be to see that time wasted as you give in to the temptation to take short-cuts. Moreover, your preaching will almost always be enhanced if you continue to work with the original languages of Scripture.
Take Hold of the Sunday Night Lifelines
You will likely be tempted to be down on yourself after preaching. I have two passages that I called my “lifelines” for Sunday evenings: 1 Corinthians 15:58 and Isaiah 55:10-11. More on that here in this blog post.
Feed Your Soul with the Puritans
Pastors need spiritual food beyond what they cook up themselves for their congregations. I’ve found one of the best sources of solid sustenance to be the Puritans. Forget whatever negative things you may have heard of them. Check out writers like Thomas Watson, John Flavel, Jeremiah Burroughs, and Thomas Goodwin. A well-fed soul is better prepared to feed others.
Read Through the Bible Each Year
One of the best pieces of encouragement I ever received from an elder was to start reading the Bible from front to back each year. God’s Word will shape your faith, your character, and impact your ministry accordingly. Don’t be haphazard about your personal consumption of Scripture – have a plan and do your best to stick with it.
Be Thoughtful About Public Prayer
It’s good to be deliberate about your prayers in public worship. Instead of trying to remember to pray for every cause on every Sunday — and exasperating God’s people in the process — it’s better to have a plan or system to cover things over a number of weeks. You can find an example of what I used here.
Pray for Those Who Mistreat You
Some people will be difficult to love. Some people may even make you question why you became a pastor. Conflict and challenging personalities go with the territory. However, as we pray for those who make our life challenging (as Christ teaches us to do in Luke 6:28), we will find that not only our tolerance for them grows, but so does our love and our capacity to minister to them effectively.
Learn How to Detect Deception
People are going to lie to you. You may wish to remain ignorant of their deception, but that will hinder your effectiveness as a pastor. You can and should learn how to detect deceit. I found Spy the Lie (Tennant, Floyd, and Carcinero) to be helpful, but there are other books. How you react when you suspect deceit is a question for another time, but let’s just say you need to be wise and careful.
Turn Your Phone Off
Whether you’re visiting someone for pastoral care, teaching a class, leading a worship service, or chairing a meeting, “Flight Mode” exists for a reason. Turn that phone off, turn it to silent, leave it at home — just do whatever you have to do to make sure it doesn’t become a distraction to ministry. No one wants to play second fiddle to your phone.
Bonus Tip: Listen to Your Wife
She’s almost always right. The sooner you learn that, the better pastor you’ll be.
