YOUR HEART WILL BE BROKEN
Because the ratio of members to staff is small you are aware of the spiritual condition of your flock. That is not always a good thing. If you stay long enough, there will be individuals you’ve raised up who walk away from their confession.
This abandonment ricochets through the small congregation because their absence is more dramatically felt. But the worse part is the betrayal of once tightly held beliefs. You will ask yourself, “What didn’t I do? What more could I have said? What did I say to precipitate this?”
Some of these won’t be angry at you or the church but just float away, looking for something – they don’t know what. Then there are those who have a gripe. These are hostile to you or the congregation. They are vocal and hateful and don’t mind sharing their “concerns” with the world.
Finally, there are those who follow the Lord, walking in His shadow and yet suffer. They suffer at home, on the job, in their bodies, in their minds, and among their family. You simply can’t fix what’s wrong. So you carry them before the Lord every day. The Savior told us to watch and pray but what he didn’t tell us was how much it would hurt.
The small church pastor feels these hurts because he is in close proximity to his people. Be warned! This work is not for the faint of heart. If you seek to pastor the small membership congregation yours will be broken.
The Bible Bistro 