Becoming a Patient Pastor

To be honest, left to ourselves and our own strength, I have very little hope of any of us ever becoming truly patient pastors and leaders. I just don’t. But the good news is that the Lord has not called us to grow in patience by ourselves, on our own, apart from Him. Thankfully, the opposite is true. The Holy Spirit is working in us daily, transforming us and conforming us more and more to the image and character of Christ.

Paul writes about the different types of “fruit” that the Holy Spirit is producing and developing in God’s people: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...” (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit is producing the characteristics of Christ within us. One of these is patience. Christ-like patience.

The word for “patience” comes from the Greek word, μακροθυμία (makrothumia). There is a lot of meaning packed into this Greek word. It is a term that combines two different words. Makros is defined as “long or far,” and thumos means “anger or wrath.” When we put these two words together, we quite literally come up with “long-anger.” The opposite is “short-anger” or “short-temper.” If someone is short-tempered, they are a very impatient person. Makrothumia is speaking of someone who is the opposite of this. They are long-tempered. In other words, they display a Spirit-empowered patience that is honoring to the Lord and loving toward others.

Clearly, being an impatient pastor or leader is out of step with the Spirit’s desired work in our lives. Practically speaking, if we are not long-tempered, our leadership efforts in the church will become very frustrating and ineffective. As we seek to love and shepherd the people in our congregation, our lack of patience will result in anger and bitterness toward the very sheep God has entrusted us to love and care for. The very sheep Jesus died to save.

Living out biblical patience takes a lot of humility, a lot of love, and lot of dependent prayer. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit. The truth is, we will be ministering to all different kinds of people, some of whom are very difficult and trying of our patience. While we will at times be tempted, in our flesh, to lash out at them in anger or ask them to leave our church and go worship elsewhere, the Lord has called us to these sheep. Our patience will be tested, no question. But the good news is that God promises to equip us and empower us to grow into the long-suffering, loving leaders He wants us to be.

In what ways do you need to grow in patience as a leader? Take a few minutes in prayer and ask the Lord to do the work He desires to do in you.