{"id":857446,"date":"2025-10-01T05:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T10:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=857446"},"modified":"2025-10-01T07:05:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T12:05:58","slug":"what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Thought I Knew as a Young Pastor\u2014But Got Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

God opened the door for my first pastorate in the summer of 1989. I had no seminary education, and two dormant years toward a bachelor\u2019s degree in Bible. The president of the small college I had attended was an interim pastor at a small country church. He recommended me, and, following one trial sermon and a three-question interview (no lie), I was called to be the pastor.<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought I was ready, but I was so green Crayola could have named a new crayon after me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The church had a strained relationship with former pastors. As I recall, the average pastoral life expectancy was approximately 2.5 years over the previous 40 years or more. As it turned out, I was less than average.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many years and many conversations with pastors later, I have confidence that the things I didn\u2019t know as a young pastor are common among young pastors. Here are a few of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

That people really meant they wanted the church to grow.<\/b><\/p>\n

Almost everyone wants their church to grow, but few pastors know what Sister Suzette means by it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many people mean, \u201cHelp me get my kids back in church.\u201d Others mean, \u201cHelp us get our former, very disgruntled members back.\u201d Others mean, \u201cLet\u2019s try to reach more people like us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

People who haven\u2019t experienced the lava-hot blast of Kingdom growth rarely suspect the messiness it entails. Many pastors haven\u2019t. I\u2019m not suggesting people were lying when they said they wanted the church to grow. But what people say and what a young pastor hears are often different things.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That my best and worst sermons never were that.<\/b><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been preaching longer than five minutes ago, you likely have the experience of thinking, \u201cWow. That was a solid sermon. I was firing on all cylinders. God surely used it!\u201d Conversely, \u201cMan. What a dud. Even I was bored with it. God will need to work a miracle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rarely are those extremes ever true.<\/span><\/p>\n

I always tried to be prepared. I never remember \u201cphoning one in\u201d because I didn\u2019t want to study and pray. Usually, it paid off. At the least, it was coherent, biblically faithful, and reasonably on point. On occasion, I didn\u2019t have any heavy critique to level at myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other times, I wanted to quit before I got through my notes. Preaching with a distracted mind, or a sermon you can tell in real-time isn\u2019t hitting the mark, is akin to running barefoot on Legos. Yet, invariably, someone would come to me after a \u201cterrible\u201d sermon and say, \u201cPastor, God really spoke to me today.\u201d God always reminded me that His power is in His Word, not in what I say about His Word. Whether or not I feel effective in presentation neither elevates nor quenches the dunamis (dynamite) of the gospel.<\/span><\/p>\n

That I could preach without my personal preferences and baggage.<\/b><\/p>\n

I was in ministry for a long time before I learned to search myself for preconceptions and baggage from my own life and experiences that affected my preaching. Being entirely na\u00efve, I believed (mainly because I had heard it preached) that I could be a ship without barnacles sailing the gospel sea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve since learned that scraping the hull is hard work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact that I spent years in a fundamentalist church affected my preaching. The fact that my formative years were solely influenced by \u201cfire and brimstone\u201d preachers affected my preaching. That I was repeatedly warned, \u201cTouch not God\u2019s anointed,\u201d affected my self-perception and that of my congregation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That lack of self-examination, repentance, and renewal affected me. And them.<\/span><\/p>\n

That the theology I had been taught isn\u2019t all the sound theology there is.<\/b><\/p>\n

My early Bible college studies were at an Independent Baptist school where one specific eschatological stream was taught. \u201cTaught\u201d is inaccurate. More accurately, it was elevated to Mississippi or Amazon strength.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, I never learned theology from American theologians outside of those my pastors agreed with. No Asians, South Americans, Ugandans, Kenyans, First Nations peoples, or modern Europeans need apply, save John Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, to my frustration and shame, it took years of ministry for me to read outside the theology I\u2019d always been taught. If I had looked more broadly earlier, my congregations and I would have reaped the benefit.<\/span><\/p>\n

That I shouldn\u2019t try to emulate the well-known pastors in my tradition.<\/b><\/p>\n

Not long after I answered the call to preach, I remember, boiling over with the hubris of youth, saying to my mother, \u201cI want to be the next Adrian Rogers.\u201d With wisdom, she replied, \u201cGod doesn\u2019t need another Adrian Rogers. He needs a Marty Duren.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Without debating whether God \u201cneeds\u201d a particular preacher, her point was clear: God called me, and He knew what He was getting into when He did so. The impact was so lasting that, years later, when a couple I had known from our teenage years told me, \u201cYou preach just like (our pastor from those years),\u201d I immediately sought to let God shape me as me, not as our former pastor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly, there are practices, nuances, and study habits we can learn from preachers of every era. But, if Phillips Brooks was right in that \u201cPreaching is truth communicated through personality,\u201d then God\u2019s calling is for my personality, and yours, to be a unique channel of gospel communication for His glory.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are some things you thought you knew as a young pastor but got wrong?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"God opened the door for my first pastorate in the summer of 1989. I had no seminary education, and two dormant years toward a bachelor\u2019s degree in Bible. The president of the small college I had attended was an interim pastor at a small country church. He recommended me, and, following one trial sermon and…","protected":false},"author":19048,"featured_media":857449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[193,1,183,195,184,179,175,186,192,177,178,14796,180,194,176],"tags":[19521,19065,21245,21246,21244],"class_list":["post-857446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administration-and-finance","category-church-answers","category-communications","category-conflict-and-people-problems","category-discipleship","category-first-impressions","category-grow","category-health-and-metrics","category-how-to","category-lead","category-membership-and-assimilation","category-monday-wednesday-featured","category-outreach-and-evangelism","category-preaching","category-revitalize","tag-church-growth","tag-sermon","tag-theology","tag-well-known-pastors","tag-what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat I Thought I Knew as a Young Pastor\u2014But Got Wrong | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"God opened the door for my first pastorate in the summer of 1989. 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Here are a few of them.","og_url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/","og_site_name":"Church Answers","article_published_time":"2025-10-01T10:00:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-01T12:05:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Pastor-preaching-sermon-at-the-pulpit.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Marty Duren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marty Duren","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/"},"author":{"name":"Marty Duren","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/08a82250734440d280ffdb7473a3e33e"},"headline":"What I Thought I Knew as a Young Pastor\u2014But Got Wrong","datePublished":"2025-10-01T10:00:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-01T12:05:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/"},"wordCount":937,"commentCount":3,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Pastor-preaching-sermon-at-the-pulpit.png","keywords":["Church Growth","Sermon","Theology","Well-known Pastors","What I Thought I Knew as a Young Pastor\u2014But Got Wrong"],"articleSection":["Administration & Finance","Church Answers","Communications","Conflict & People Problems","Discipleship","First Impressions","Grow","Health & Metrics","How To","Lead","Membership & Assimilation","Monday\/Wednesday Featured","Outreach & Evangelism","Preaching","Revitalize"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/","name":"What I Thought I Knew as a Young Pastor\u2014But Got Wrong | Church Answers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Pastor-preaching-sermon-at-the-pulpit.png","datePublished":"2025-10-01T10:00:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-01T12:05:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/08a82250734440d280ffdb7473a3e33e"},"description":"God opened the door for my first pastorate in the summer of 1989. I had no seminary education, and two dormant years toward a bachelor\u2019s degree in Bible. The president of the small college I had attended was an interim pastor at a small country church. He recommended me, and, following one trial sermon and a three-question interview (no lie), I was called to be the pastor. I thought I was ready, but I was so green Crayola could have named a new crayon after me. The church had a strained relationship with former pastors. As I recall, the average pastoral life expectancy was approximately 2.5 years over the previous 40 years or more. As it turned out, I was less than average. Many years and many conversations with pastors later, I have confidence that the things I didn\u2019t know as a young pastor are common among young pastors. Here are a few of them.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Pastor-preaching-sermon-at-the-pulpit.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Pastor-preaching-sermon-at-the-pulpit.png","width":1200,"height":628,"caption":"Pastor preaching sermon at the pulpit"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/what-i-thought-i-knew-as-a-young-pastor-but-got-wrong\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What I Thought I Knew as a Young Pastor\u2014But Got Wrong"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/","name":"Church Answers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/08a82250734440d280ffdb7473a3e33e","name":"Marty Duren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/004fb9f65e2cda641f395fe1371bb1567b0c47d6aada587f8c064d2878b86fa5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/004fb9f65e2cda641f395fe1371bb1567b0c47d6aada587f8c064d2878b86fa5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Marty Duren"},"description":"Marty Duren is a writer, editor, and publisher in Nashville, TN. For many years, he has served churches in Georgia and Tennessee in full- and part-time pastoral and volunteer opportunities. Marty is married to Sonya, the love of his life. Their four kids are grown; their two grandkids are not. They have a collie with PTSD and a cat with an attitude. His latest book is The Disparate Ones: Essays on Being in the World but Not of the World (Missional Press). Reach Marty at freelance.martyduren.com, or connect on Facebook and Bluesky.","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/author\/martyduren\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19048"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857446"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":857451,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857446\/revisions\/857451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}