Today’s guest blog comes to us from Karl Vaters, pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, CA. Karl is the author of The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches and the Small Thinking that Divides Us and is a regular contributor on NewSmallChurch.com.

Much of today’s ministry training takes its lead from businesses.

Maybe businesses should be taking their lead from pastors.

Many successful businesspeople have flamed out trying to plant or pastor a church. Some left a successful business for full-time ministry, only to burn out and go back to the business world. Some started in ministry, then quit to go into business, where they finally found success.

It’s much easier to start or run a successful business than to plant or pastor a successful church.

And when I say ‘successful church’ I don’t mean a big, growing one. I mean a solid, healthy one – of any size.

If you pastor a church and it’s not collapsing in a heap beneath you, you’re doing a better job at a harder task than most of the successful business owners and managers that people want us to emulate.

So, why is pastoring harder than running a business? Here are 6 reasons:

1. The Church Is a Family, Not a Business. Running a church like a business is similar to running a family like a business. You can’t get there from here. That’s why the biblical requirements for pastors, bishops, overseers and other church leaders are drawn from family life, not business life.

2. Working with Volunteers Is Very Different than Working with Employees. It’s hard to hire, train and manage employees. Now, imagine doing all of that without the incentive of a pay check. That’s what pastors have to do with volunteers.

3. Churches are Much More Complex than Businesses. There are a lot of moving parts to a healthy business. There are infinitely more to a healthy church. Spiritually, emotionally, financially, and socially. We’re there from the joy of birth to the sorrow of death. Aside from the family, there is no institution that touches more aspects of people’s lives than the church does. Yet pastors are expected to master it all. No wonder so many quit in frustration.

To read the remaining three reasons, click here.

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.