That's Not the Problem of Our Day

Pastors do not minister to national averages.

Pastors do not minister to national averages. Averages don’t map neatly onto real congregations. That’s not how averages work. Problems vary from church to church, both in intensity and in kind. And a faithful pastor deals with the actual things in front of him, in the church given to his charge.

So let’s say I decide to address hyper-patriarchy and post some of my thinking online. First, I’ll have to convince people who discovered “patriarchy” two years ago that such a thing even exists. Then they’ll want airtight definitions. Then they’ll want names. Because in the modern mind, everything is a battle between personalities. Very little is about principles.

And once I’ve waded through all of that, they’ll say, “That’s not the main problem of our day. The problem is feminism. The problem is egalitarianism.”

Never mind that I’ve written and spoken on those subjects for almost half my life. Never mind that I’ve probably addressed egalitarianism far more, precisely because I think it is a massive and often ignored problem. But what principle of Scripture requires a pastor to speak only about what’s biggest on a national chart? And who decides what “biggest” even means? Size is always contextual.

No one in my family has cancer right now. If someone did, it would instantly become a big issue. Pastors are called to address what is actually threatening their people and what their people are actually struggling to work through.

I can easily imagine some first-century social media user telling Paul he shouldn’t bother with Euodia and Syntyche because “the real issue” was the Judaizers. But Paul had no problem addressing both. Why? Because both were problems in Philippi. And he loved the sheep there.

A good shepherd deals with the particular needs of the flock in front of him while also addressing the larger issues common to all churches. We can do the same. If we are pastors, we must do the same. National trends can inform focus, but they must never limit it.

I’m starting to call some people “newsies.” They interpret everything through the lens of the news cycle. What makes it funny is that many of these same people mock boomers for treating Fox or CNN as a clear window into reality, while doing the exact same thing with trending topics, podcasts, and online controversies.

It’s easy to become what you mock. It’s easy to fall into an echo chamber. It’s easy to tumble into a propaganda washing machine that bleaches your ability to see what’s right in front of you. You stop seeing your actual world. You only see “the church” through national averages and influencer narratives, because those sources know what will keep your attention.

Focused attention is one of the most precious things a man has. And a shepherd’s attention must be finely tuned to his local issues and to actual people. Yes, the local is part of the whole. What happens nationally matters. But there is a growing shortsightedness in the online Reformed world that masquerades as deep insight. Influencer-sophists know how to harness it. They know we love to heap up teachers who tell us what we already want to hear. Don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell.

A pastor’s job is different. He must think for himself and tell his people what they need to hear. And that will always ruffle the feathers of the comfortable.