Biggest Pastoral Mistakes

Another good post from Darryl Dash. I just subscribed to his blog. You might want to as well:

Today I’m posting the biggest mistakes I’ve made as a pastor. On Tuesday I’m going to post what I’ve learned that’s helped me in dealing with some of these mistakes.

Here, in no particular order, are some of my biggest mistakes:

Trendiness – In The Art of Pastoring, David Hansen said that he could trace the progress of the different fads and movements as he looked at his predecessor’s library. It’s easy as pastor to be latching on to new trends in the hope that they will provide what’s lacking within the church. I regret it.

Impatience – I tried to take the long view, but I can recall one occasion in which I grew tired of the process and lashed out at people. Moses did this twice in 40 years with greater cause, and he was punished severely. I regret being impatient.

Shallowness – Pastoring requires theological thinking and reading. There were times that I let the demands of ministry stop me from engaging much below the level of practice.

Isolation – I’m really enjoying leading in community, but for a long time, I tended to keep the struggles of leadership and life to myself. That cost everyone.