An aversion to lay leadership also factors into the equation. Men want to be involved, to have a piece of the action.
In an ideal world, every Christian man aspires to embrace pastoral responsibilities by the time he reaches middle age. And every church provides coaching to catalyze and encourage each step of that journey.
* By that time, he should have adult children whose integrity and godliness bear witness to his skill as a father.
* By that time, his hospitable dinner table should be known as a place where lovers of truth can enjoy good food and good conversation.
* By that time, he should be several decades into a rigorous self-education program.
* By that time, his personal ministry focus will have borne wholesome fruit.
* By that time, he will be known in the community for his integrity.
* By that time, the skills he sharpened by home schooling and catechizing his own children will come in handy as he encourages younger people.
* By that time, everyone will see how radiantly happy his wife is.
* By that time, he should have “a sufficiency,” enough resources to fund his own ministry outreaches, without needing to ask others to bankroll his sense of mission.
A healthy, growing church needs all the leaders it can catalyze. If an ordained, full-time “THE” minister isn’t continuously cultivating such a cadre, burnout beckons. And he may admit at the end of his life, like George Whitfield, that “we have built a rope of sand.”
We stopped attending our church because the lead pastor sees all you spoke of as competition against himself. My husband saw no reason to stay.
This sounds a bit like the church version of a Superman who has it all and can do it all. Im not sure many can meet that kind of “societal” standard and not sure either in what you might find in a person so “accomplished” in the their life…for “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”