10 Reasons Why Pastors Need Pastors:

Once a month I meet with a group of youth pastors in my city and every month I leave our meeting equipped and encouraged to continue to press on in ministry. Below you will find 10 reasons why pastors need pastors.

1. Because our hearts need shepherding just like everyday Christians.

Too often, congregations don’t like to hear that their pastor is merely a Christian in the middle of his sanctification who has a unique calling to serve the church. Friends, your pastor is not a pope, though I suspect some members tend to view him as the high and holy pontiff. The pastor is not the sinless Son of God. He is not a spiritual superstar. And he needs other men in similar circumstances to help him with his soul as iron sharpens iron (Prov. 27:17).

2. Because we sometimes need wisdom outside our own intimate circle.

If a pastor isn’t careful, ministry can become an echo chamber in which he constantly hears only his own voice or those of people who surround him and are in a position of always having to affirm him and his ideas—out of fear or flattery or worse motives. This spotlights the genius of God’s design that calls for plural leadership in the church and is a primary reason elders must not be “yes men.”

I’ve seen too many Christian leaders surround themselves with men who are always affirming, always approving—sycophants—and the results are predictable.

Pastors sometimes need to seek wisdom—or a frank voice—particularly in the midst of difficult circumstances, outside his own intimate circle. He needs other men to be honest with him out of love for his church and his soul.

3. Because we have blind spots.

As the people in our pews provide a vital means of sanctification by living out the “one-anothers” of Scripture together, brother pastors help each other see areas of needed change and growth in sanctification. We typically don’t see our own sins and weaknesses very well. We need other pastor friends to help us, who love us enough to tell us the truth about less obvious leadership flaws and besetting sins.

4. Because we need others to preach the gospel to us.

“Preach the gospel to yourself daily” is advice that its both popular these days and it is necessary. However, pastors need other men to preach the gospel to them as well. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said so well, I’m always preaching to myself, but I don’t always listen to the gospel when I preach it.

5. Because even our Bible heroes had mentors.

Timothy had Paul. Mark had Barnabas. The disciples had Jesus. Every pastor needs a mentor who’s been in the foxhole longer than he has.

6. Because even our heroes from church history had mentors.

Luther had von Staupitz. Calvin had Bucer. Zwingli had Bullinger. Knox had Calvin. Sproul had Gerstner. MacArthur had his father, Jack. Every pastor needs to develop a close relationship with a man who is more experienced and wiser than himself.

7. Because ministry is difficult and the demon of discouragement is always as close to you as the day after Sunday.

At least ten thousand pastors write their letter of resignation—at least mentally—every single Monday, which is to say discouragement is as much a part of ministry as intercessory prayer. Pastor, you need a Barnabas and you need fellowship with him regularly.

8. Because someone else’s experience can be your best teacher.

Every pastor knows the feeling: He’s facing a situation that’s brand-new to him. He’s never been there or done that. But he knows another pastor friend who has. I once had a member whose marriage was falling apart, but in an odd way I had never before encountered. A close pastor friend had a member go through virtually the same odd sort of marriage implosion, and his council proved invaluable in helping me try to minister to the heartbroken man in my church.

9. Because we don’t always heed our own preaching.

Sometimes, I get tired of hearing my own voice in the pulpit. I can grow weary of taking to heart the truths I preach. I need to hear other preachers. My soul needs to be fed.

10. Because I need a sympathetic fellow pastor to remind me to take a day off.

Pastors need pastors to remind them that pastoral ministry is not their most fundamental calling and that it is OK to take a day off.

May it please the Lord to give us all mentors and fellow pastors who we can meet with and encourage/equip each other to press on in the ministry.