Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A Lack of Sufficiency

A recent conversation in the comments with my dear reader, "Anonymous" got me thinking about matters of sufficiency.  Really, Anonymous got me thinking about experience, but experience then lead me to sufficiency because of the questions I had in regards to experience.  Simply put, my question was this, "When is experience sufficient?"  Obviously that question will have different answers for different people, and for different situations.  But, there is a legitimate question with why we place "experience" as a qualification, and why certain amounts of experience are seen as sufficient, whereas other amounts of experience are not.

Admittedly, I have a dog in this game.  For the cause of full disclosure: I'm looking for work in a field in which I cannot claim to have direct experience.  Yes, I have experience serving in a church and working with pastors.  I have been in charge of a ministry and have been involved in multiple ministries over the last 3 years.  But, I have never been a pastor, I've never been an associate pastor, and I've never been in a paid position with any church.

So, for me, the idea of experience being a necessary qualification for any position seems rather difficult, philosophically speaking.  But, I have to admit that there is a good rationale behind the idea.  I mean, I'd rather have a doctor who has done 20 surgeries operating on me, not the just out of medical school intern who has never operated on a live patient before.  Yet, that young surgeon has to begin somewhere, and it is the responsibility of those who have placed me in the care of that surgeon to know that he is ready and qualified to actually do the surgery.  The idea of experience is important, because experience can demonstrate competence in a field, and almost all of us would rather have someone competent than someone untried in important positions in our lives.

But, not every job is the same.  For instance, would anyone say that a mathematician shouldn't be trusted because he does not have the experience of years behind his work?  Or would we dismiss the work of a physicist or a chemist, because of a lack of experience?  Hard sciences, or purely logical pursuits do not require high levels of experience.  Thus, we must recognize that there is a limit to what experience means, and whether or not it is important.

The challenge is to determine where a given job falls in the continuity of experience.  For those jobs which are learned skills, jobs that require quick decisions and have very flexible situations, experience becomes more important.  For those jobs that have rigid rules, that require the exact performance of a set duty, experience becomes less important (generally speaking).  A man working on an assembly line does not need to have a great deal of experience to do his job well, so long as his job is simple and repetitious.  A bank president who must deal with multiple people and multiple emergencies in a given day should probably have significant experience so that he is not quickly overwhelmed.

Yet, even in the case of someone who has significant experience and high qualifications, there is a warning.  Do not begin to think that your experience, your ability, and your persistence are the reasons you are successful.  Remember that success is a gift from God.  (Deuteronomy 18:17-18)  Give thanks to God for the good things you have received, be humble and remember that your experiences have been good because of God's blessing.  Do not boast in your own might, for Scripture is clear that the power of men is fleeting, and the one who does not give thanks to God stores up wealth for others whom they do not know.

At the same time, there is the reverse fact, that sometimes it is the one without experience who has been given the blessing of wisdom.  Look at the example of Elihu in the book of Job.  He says,

"I am young in years,
   and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
   to declare my opinion to you.
I said, 'Let days speak,
   and many years teach wisdom.'
But it is the spirit in man,
   the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
   It is not the old who are wise,
   nor the aged who understand what is right.
Therefore I say, 'Listen to me;
   let me also declare my opinion.'" (Job 32:6-10)

So it is important that we remember, that sometimes it is not a matter of age and experience.  Sometimes the one God has gifted to do a certain job, or fill a position, is the one who is young and un-experienced, because it is that person who will most demonstrate the glory of God.

We could note any number of examples in Scripture of the foolish, the inexperienced, and the weak being used by God for the sake of his glory.  Likewise there are multiple examples of God using experience, age, and wisdom for the purpose of bringing glory to himself.  God is able to bring himself glory through whatever means he chooses, and it is not for us to say that one is too young or too old to be used by God.  Thus Paul gives Timothy his famous charge, "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)  We must also embrace this word from Paul, as a guide for our own thoughts, and make a point of not despising those who are young and those who do not have great experience, but must inquire of God to see if he is seeking to use "the foolish" for the sake of his glory.

Paul understood well the reality that it was not his experience and his work that made him anything special.  He says in 2 Corinthians 3:5, "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God."  He understood that it was God who made him a minister of the gospel, not his own works.  Even in something as theoretically simple as sharing the Gospel of Christ, Paul did not take credit, but acknowledged that God was the one who empowered him.  So we, in whatever we do, whether seeking to fill a position, or seeking to find someone to fill a position, should be more interested in glorifying God than in worrying about matters of experience.

In trying to get the best possible person for a position, and in striving to be the best possible person for a position, let us avoid making experience into an idol.  Give experience its due, admit that those with experience and demonstrated ability are the ones most likely to succeed in the future.  But also recognize the limits of experience, and that sometimes God desires to work through the less renowned for his renown.  In success, be humble, and do not scorn meager beginnings.  Bow the knee to God, and let him glorify himself as he desires.

9 comments:

  1. My point was simply that you must show humility when venturing into subjects where experience does play a factor and tip your cap towards the fact that your opinion is solely based on study. When you do this, people are more willing to listen and be involved in a discussion with you. If you talk about something as if you KNOW, and your target audience knows you have no experience with what you are talking about, they will most certainly not listen and might even challenge you.

    You must show appropriate humility in all things, even when you do have experience and you are confident in your knowledge...because you can always learn something and discover that you may not know as much as you thought.

    By the way, everybody starts somewhere without experience. You don't have to try and make an argument in favor of youth and giftedness...to do so makes you look inexperienced.

    You must love me at this point :)

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  2. I do find it funny that you would mention that there does not need to be an argument made for youth and giftedness. If you could see the number of churches, even very small churches, who say that they only want resumes from men with at least 5 years of experience, you might change your mind. I agree, that one must begin somewhere, but I look and see a culture that has very much fallen into the trap of thinking that only those with experience can be any good at what they are doing. (At least 6 or 7 of every 10 churches who put up online ads looking for a pastor have this 5 year experience requirement. Universally so for churches larger than 200 members. I have also seen some who say the candidate must be at least 30 years old, must have been married at least 5 years, etc. The idea that there is no need to make the argument may die the death of a thousand qualifications by the time it is substantiated.)

    But I certainly agree with you, showing humility is a necessity. I agree with you further, it is necessary in all things. But, we must also be confident in that which we believe to be true. If we are not sure, we should be honest in telling others that we are not sure. But, as Dave Ramsey is fond of saying, "You asked for my opinion. I'm an expert on my opinion."

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  3. I'm not surprised that nearly all churches want their pastor to be experienced. Actually, I already knew that. That's why most pastors start in smaller positions within the church to gain applicable experience. If you are only looking to be a pastor right now, you will most certainly be looking for a long time. In this economy, you would do well just to find any job to stay afloat while searching for a job with a church. Do not become a victim of your own ambition.

    I have been in your shoes and it is hard to come to terms with the fact that, despite working so hard gaining an eduction, you must also work hard and make sacrifices to gain the experience needed to reach your goals. After all, if you were in the position of these churches seeking a pastor...would you hire someone without any experience? Be honest now. I know some 14 year olds who have watched more on television and in the movies about driving than I ever will, but I would never hand them the keys to my car.

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  4. Also, as for my comment on there being no need to make an argument for youth and giftedness...I stand by that. The reason I say that in your case is because you are seeking something that almost always requires experience (and heaven help those who hire an inexperienced candidate as they become the guinea pigs and proving grounds). So to make an argument for youth and giftedness is simply pointless.

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  5. I fear we may have to simply disagree about whether it is necessary to make the argument about experience. I find it valuable to be reminded of even basic truths on occasion. If you found the argument unnecessary and without value, then so be it, hopefully you found the writing at least enjoyable. Unfortunately, only having your opinion and my wife's opinion available to me, I cannot conclude whether this was a pointless post or not. (She said she enjoyed it, and anyone else who read it has remained silent.) At the least I can conclude that it was useful for beginning this exchange, which is good in and of itself.

    I do not disagree with you about the need to find any work in this economy while looking for a position, Anonymous. The fact is that come the new year I may be moving, doing something that I hate and leaving my wife where we are now so I can go to another city and look for work. I never thought I'd be in this position, but already it has taken longer to find work than I had initially planned, and so I must do that which is necessary, no matter how much I may dislike it. Ambition is fine, but reality must be lived. So I agree with you, it would be easy to become a victim of my own ambition, but my duty is to my wife, and so my first ambition must be to care for her, not for my own ego.

    To answer your question about whether I would hire someone without experience though, my answer is yes. (If, by experience, what you mean is someone who has held a paid position in a church, or served as an associate pastor, or a youth pastor, etc.) My dear friend and previous pastor in Louisville, Pastor Ben, was called, ordained, and hired though he had not yet even completed his seminary degree. (And this in Louisville, where they could have likely found any number of recent graduates from SBTS who would have been willing to take the position for the sake of "experience".) To my knowledge he did not have any experience other than working with youth in another church. But, they saw that he had a calling to be a pastor, and he fit the biblical requirements. (Admittedly I was not a member of that church at that time, and did not come into the church until after he had been serving as its pastor for about a year.) Having served under such a man, who would not have met the "experience" requirements of the majority of churches, I would have no hesitation of looking at someone and laying aside the issue of "professional" experience for the sake of determining if he was the man God was calling to be my pastor.

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  6. continued from above:

    I would like to know from those who want experience as a mandatory requirement on a pastoral application is what position is sufficient for a man to gain experience in order to be a pastor? And how long should he serve in that position in order to get the experience necessary? Would you refuse to hire someone who demonstrated giftedness as a preacher, wisdom as a counselor, and a love and passion for the Word of God and the church, and had experience serving in various church positions (unpaid, simply serving in ministries) because he had no experience as a pastor? (I am not claiming any of these qualities for myself.) On the other hand, if you were a member of a small church (50-75 members) who had such a candidate applying to be your pastor, would you hire him, or would you continue to hold out for a man with 5+ years of experience who wanted to pastor a small church? If you knew the inexperienced candidate only planned on staying three to five years to gain experience before applying to a larger church, would you still hire him?

    These are the questions that I wonder if most churches have actually thought through. Many people tell me that, as a young man looking to pastor a church, I should apply to small churches, so that I can gain experience and then move to a larger church. To me this seems a very mercenary way to look at church, as though small churches ought to be only stepping stones in a man's career. Further, the implication is that smaller churches should be content with what larger churches would not accept: inexperienced young men who need to be trained as pastors. This bothers me because it seems to imply that smaller churches are less important or inferior in some way.

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  7. By the sound of the link below, sounds like Pastor Ben stepped into a very unique situation.

    http://fearandtrembling.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!748B224B6D96FEB2!892.entry

    It really is no different than any other career path. There are smaller positions requiring little to no experience (usually assoc. pastor, student minister, and rarely pastor of a small church...often still requiring additional work to make a living) and then you have greater positions that take experience to obtain.

    Here's something else to consider. Since many small churches cannot afford to pay a pastor much money at all, these pastors usually find either a full-time regular job or a part-time job. That is very common. If you are in a rural place right now (or in the south, then you're close to many rural places), there will be a number of churches like this nearby. Say you get a position like this struggle to make ends meet. After a few somewhat successful years leading this small church, a larger church wants you to be their pastor and can pay you much more. Do you stay at the small church because it bothers you to leave them like a stepping stone, or take the new opportunity that is much better financially for your family?

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  8. Ben did step into a unique situation. I have no disagreement there. But, the fact is that he is a very competent and wonderful pastor, and came into his position with little to no experience, as most churches would define the term. Thus my point.

    But, as to your question of whether I would leave a poor church to go to a church offering better compensation, my answer is a firm "No". For me, being a pastor, or joining to a church at all, means joining a family. The members of my church are my brothers and sisters. Christ has united me to them, and my heavenly father had adopted me into his family. Just as I would not leave my family (in the sense of severing my relationship with them) for the sake of a better paying job, so I would not do so with my church family either.

    If, however, I felt that God was calling me to go and join another church, then I would be obedient to him. I would weep over the ones I left. I would be heartbroken at stepping out of their lives, even as I would rejoice at joining with a new family and being involved with them.

    I wept when I left Louisville, not because of the city or the school, but because of the family I had there. And believe me, that was a unique experience for me; I have not wept over moving since I was a very small child. I hope that I would be just as heartbroken, if not more so, if I ever left one church to go to another as a pastor. As such I would only leave a church if I felt that God was calling me to leave, because his glory is more important than my own broken heart.

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  9. I can appreciate being true to family, whether adopted or by blood, especially when they have stood by you. That is certainly what any church would be doing upon hiring you. I hope you have noticed that in some of my responses I have looked for answers that come from a degree of introspection. This is another good time to do such.

    I know you are currently out of work and I know from my experience that if you have a supportive family, you lean on them more than ever in such tough times. Family support helped me pull through a time like that many years ago and I have tried to show my appreciation ever since then, even after all these years. I don't know your exact situation, but it could be a good time to look back upon yourself to see if you are being true to your faith in the way you show appreciation towards those who have stood with you and to do what you can for them despite the circumstances.

    Not looking for a response this time, I just felt it was a good subject to meditate on, if you will. It is certainly easy to lose yourself a bit in tough times and it is good to take time to re-connect and gain perspective. I'm not saying you are hitting that point, but I do want to wish you luck and tell you to hang in there.

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