There's something about church ministry that causes pastors to forget three important words. Almost everyone in ministry needs to know these words and use them. They are short and simple, and they work well together. There's nothing theological about them unless you are talking about the theology of work. Let's discover them together.
Let me begin by saying you probably did not learn these words in Bible college or seminary. When used in answer to a church member's question, many pastors or church leaders would usually view them as a sign of weakness, or worse, ignorance. And everybody knows that a good pastor would never want to be seen as ignorant, at least not this one.
I came to learn these three words after a number of years working in pastoral ministry. The training for understanding and using these words came in the proverbial school of hard knocks. The class was a very difficult course in ministerial humility. It was so difficult that I had to repeat the course several times. I think I finally completed the class with a C-, only to learn that the same curriculum is repeated over and over again as continual learning.
So what are the three forgotten words of a pastor? - "I DON"T KNOW."
In pastoral ministry, there are many times when you must learn to say, "I don't know." It might be in answer to a question about who is responsible to put the widgets in place before a Sunday School class meets. When asked if you know, just say, "I don't know." You probably don't. Just smile and suggest that they ask the Sunday School class teacher and point her out.
Someone may come up to you and ask if you happen to know the name of the left-handed judge mentioned in the Old Testament. After all, you have been trained in the Bible, haven't you? It's OK to answer with the words, "I don't know." Thank your questioner with a smile and suggest that they look up the answer to the question using a search function on their computer's Bible software, then ask them to let you know when they find the answer so you'll know the next time someone asks you.
Someone else may approach you with the question, "What will you be preaching on three weeks from Sunday?" Your answer may truthfully be, "I don't know." Don't try to make excuses. Just be honest and humble in your answer. You may not have been able to prepare that far ahead yet. It's not a sin if you haven't.
Whatever the need or question, "I don't know" may be the best and most honest answer you can give at the moment. And you will help people know that you should not be expected to know everything having to do with the church and her ministry. After some trial and error, people will not automatically come to you to be their personal answer man.
Saying, "I don't know," may also be one of the best ways you can train your church to apply Ephesians 4: 11-14 to their church and their responsibilities as New Testament priests.
What don't you know about your church?
[Photo by Tobias van Schneider on Unsplash]