Pastoring as a Vocation of Weakness

We Must Decrease

I would like to push the conversation surrounding the recent Willow Creek scandals beyond the arenas of accountability practices and reporting protocols, though both of those conversations are necessary. I want to examine our definition of what it means to be a pastor.

Bill Hybels was the picture of pastoral success. Strong, driven, efficient, competitive and charismatic. At the age of twenty-four, with no seminary training, Hybels launched Willow Creek Church with 125 people in attendance. Willow Creek was an independent church led by a visionary leader which meant it was free from the constraints of denominational oversight or the demands of boards or traditions which handicap many other churches. This freedom allowed the church to multiply rapidly. In less than two years, the church had over 2000 members. He eventually began hosting leadership summits that brought in some of the most powerful people in the world. Over the last 23 years of The Global Leadership Summit, his story has inspired countless leaders from around the world to run with speed the race laid before them.

Jesus, however, had a different picture of successful leadership. He rebuked James and John when they sought to quickly secure positions of prominence upon hearing the kingdom was coming. He drew a distinction between the way the…