By Harold Smith
For those who do not know me, allow me to introduce myself briefly. I am a church revitalization missionary out of West Park Baptist Church in Ozark, serving pastorless churches in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. I work with churches that are struggling to find a pastor or can’t seem to keep one. Honestly, I am convinced that some churches don’t really want a pastor, but they are the very churches that need one the most.
We all know of a church (or three) like the ones I am describing. My services are often recommended to churches like these in the form of an interim pastor to help them get back on track and find a suitable pastor to lead them in the future. However, knowing a church needs help and the church actually wanting help are two totally different things. Many folks need to see a doctor, but none of us want to go to the doctor, that is, until things get desperate.
A doctor is probably the best way to describe the ministry I am engaged in. We all have a primary care physician. He gives regular check-ups, orders tests, prescribes meds and treats most non-emergency ailments. Most pastors are like primary care doctors — they see the same patients (their congregation) and treat them regularly, keeping them healthy and functioning properly. I could go on with this illustration, but you get the point. This is the way churches and pastors should function. (Well, don’t get me started on those “every six months or once a year” doctor visits!)
Have you ever known a patient who was the victim of malpractice or misdiagnosed by an incompetent doctor and nearly died? These poor patients often lose confidence in doctors and become skeptical of the medical field entirely. Christians and even entire churches can experience the same skepticism toward their leaders. It only takes one or two incompetent pastors to hurt a church and leave her sick and skeptical of every new pastor.
We all know that a church can’t be healthy without a healthy pastor. Who wants to help a deathly sick church? Most skilled pastors aren’t looking for a near-death small congregation of sick skeptics with leadership issues. In most instances, a lay leader or leaders step in to replace the role of the absent pastor. This can be the deacons, the loudest voice or the oldest grandmother, but none are a suitable replacement for a God-called pastor. The longer the church continues without a pastor (primary care doctor), the worse they get.
If their lack of treatment doesn’t kill them, they eventually end up in a kind of spiritual emergency room with an ER doctor (revitalization pastor) like me. My work is to revive the church and bring its life back. Ultimately, it is the Lord who does this, but He uses experienced men gifted for this cause to accomplish His work. Unlike the traditional pastor, I must work quickly to stop the bleeding, keep the pulse, restore breathing, set the bones and get the patient stabilized.
When the church is viable and of reasonable health, I seek to find a suitable pastor to maintain their treatment and ensure their continued growth. God has graciously allowed me to treat several sick churches over the years, and by His grace, I still rejoice in their vitality.
We have a number of church planters within the BMA, and I thank God for each of them. My concern is the absence of ER doctors and the increase in sick churches. We can’t plant our way out of this sick church epidemic. Would you pray for God to raise up more revitalization ministers? “God, give us more men like Timothy, Titus and Apollos who will return to water our thirsty churches!”
