What I Have Learned (after 27 years at one church)

I wrap up my twenty-seventh year as the Sr. Pastor of Christ Church (Fairview Heights, Illinois) on the final day of June. It has been a good run by any measure.

Here are twenty-seven things I have learned:


1. Remember your call. When things get tough, remember why you got into this.
2. Keep your marriage strong. If that is bad, everything is bad.
3. Stay in the Word. Reading the Bible from cover to cover every other year or so is a great discipline.
4. Keep learning. Read. Attend conferences. Get a coach. Keep getting better.
5. Never forget you are in the people business. You can’t just sit in your office all the time. You have to add value to the lives of others.
6. Don’t take things personally. Choosing not to get your feelings hurt is essential.
7. Hold it steady. Remember that God has you, your ministry and your family.
8. Realize you can’t cheat the hours necessary for excellent work. Work smart. Work hard.
9. If God does bless your ministry, don’t get all full of yourself. The second you get thinking you are all that and a bag of communion wafers, you are finished.
10. Keep it real. Just be an authentic human being who loves Jesus that God called to lead. People can not only handle that, they will embrace it.
11. Don’t ignore problems. Address them quickly.
12. Tithe. And give offerings on top of that.
13. Remember that if God called you, you can’t quit. He can release you but you can’t quit.
14. Admit your mistakes. You will make them. Offer forgiveness. Accept forgiveness.
15. Remember your detractors are not your enemies; they are your brothers and sisters in Christ.
16. Decide what a principled “win” looks like and accumulate as many as possible.
17. Take responsibility for everything. If it is your fault, you can fix it.
18. Take your vacations and your days off. Every single one of them.
19. Maintain boundaries. No one will thank you for it. Maintain them anyway.
20. Play for the long game. Failure to make tough decisions in the present will limit your future.
21. Don’t worry about being popular (that is officially impossible. Worry about being faithful to God.
22. Decide how you are going to use Social Media and don’t deviate from your game plan. You can get off Social Media when you retire.
23. Control your impulses. Think before you speak, post or Tweet. If you question whether your should post something, you shouldn’t.
24. Make decisions from your core values. That way, win or lose, you will still know who you are.
25. Publicly appreciate people. Encourage. Celebrate.
26. Take time to “look at the “back of your baseball card” and thank God for your journey.
27. Enjoy your life. No one is going to do it for you.

I start year twenty-eight on July 1.
Much has changed.
Much has remained the same.
The best is yet to come!