The Pastoral Fallacy pops up at pastors’ conferences, in books about the church and in some classes and seminars. The Fallacy also (unfortunately & too often) malforms the backdrop we use to view the church. Not only does it not work, but the Bible does not endorse it either. To make matters worse, too many pastors get hurt, frustrated and (sometimes) demoralized by following this oversimplification. 

I know I did.

In pastoring my first church, which did not go well, the Fallacy hit me at a bad time.

To clarify, “which did not go well” meant I perused the records of that first church and saw she was riding a 25 year downhill slide. And, things looked worse towards the future. 

Every category: worship attendance, Sunday School, Discipleship Training, music, income and any other measure that existed pointed down and to the right. 

So, how far “down” can “down” go?

The compiled data formed a 63-page summary prepared to help prompt action. That didn’t work either, by the way.

Consequently, feelings of being crestfallen, disappointed and heartbroken permeated most of my days. 

Concepts about myself followed closely. 

“Loser.” 

“I don’t have what it takes.” 

“I’ll never get out of here.” 

Tough, tough times. 

Additionally, I worked. A lot. 

Most weeks I worked every day, doing all I knew to do. I preached expository sermons. The five lessons/sermons every week demanded a lot of my time. At age 26, no store of messages existed, so each message/lesson was constructed from the ground up. And, since I didn’t have much experience, searching books for illustrations took its own share of manpower. The weeks filled with sharing the gospel, praying, visiting members and non-members in their homes, going to nursing homes and attending lots of meetings: budget, personnel, church council, deacons and some I’ve long since forgotten.

Nothing got better.

So, I traveled to hear a well-known, successful preacher speak at a nearby university. His overall message epitomizes the Fallacy. In a nutshell, the messenger said: 

“If you preach expository sermons, your church would do well.”

Trouble was, I preached expository sermons. I even used his commentaries! On the hour drive home, I thought, “I’m preaching expository sermons. And, according to him, that’s all I need to do for the church to reach people and grow. So, apparently, I’m not even a good enough preacher to preach expository sermons using the guy’s commentaries.” To say I felt like quitting would put it mildly.

I since discovered the Fallacy and how wrong it is.

The Pastoral Fallacy follows this general formula. It typically goes like this:

If you just _____________, your church will grow.

The Fallacy follows various themes, all with the same underlying idea. The underlying idea is, “If you do this one thing, the rest will happen by itself,” or “God will take care of the rest.”

Now, it’s comforting to think. “If I just master this one skill, God will deal with the rest of the church.” But, although comforting, it spouts untruth. The Pastoral Fallacy typically isolates a single variable. Sometimes it includes more than one item. Always, the Fallacy leaves out a crucial skill needed to lead a church to kingdom impact.

Here are some examples of the Pastoral Fallacy:

Preach expository sermons and God will take care of the rest. 

Just love your people. 

Take care of your people and they will take care of the ministry. 

Stay at a church seven years before you become the pastor. 

You preach, pray, witness and care for people and God will grow your church.

You fill the pulpit God will fill the pew (or chairs or whatever you use for seating people).  

Prayer is not preparation for the work, prayer is the work. 

If you follow God wholeheartedly personally and take care of the flock the church will grow and reproduce.

All of these ideas contain nuggets of truth. Yet, the problem lies in its isolation from all that is necessary for a church to do well.

Why It’s a Fallacy

It leaves out organizational oversight. The church is an organization. Call it an organism if you must, but the church is a group of people assigned with a task to make disciples, thus, an organization. 

No one skill succeeds in accomplishing kingdom growth. And, no set of skills will accomplish making disciples if it excludes organizational oversight.

For churches to do well, you must lead it organizationally. And, organizational skills require an additional set of skills not found in preaching, praying, visiting, counseling and sharing the gospel. You still must do these foundational skills. But, you also have to plan, strategize, empower leaders and ensure organizational alignment to the mission and the values of your particular church. If you don’t lead organizationally, the church will flounder, even as it prays, preaches, visits, counsels and shares.

The truth is, you need an assortment of skills to pastor well. What’s more, the Bible does not promote any one skill as the be-all, end-all for pastoring a successfully functioning church. 

Jesus did not endorse the Pastoral Fallacy. He used organizational skills. The Bible does not promote a singular skill, because it describes the responsibilities of the pastor as a trifecta. 

If you want to see some of those skills, whether personal, interpersonal or organizational, check here.

Don’t get discouraged by someone promoting the Pastoral Fallacy. I’m convinced most don’t know they do it. Next time, we will explore why some promote it. For now, allow God to grow you in all three areas: personal, interpersonal and organizational.