Why Pastors Shouldn’t be the Only Ones Visiting Members

Podcast Episode #263

This recent post at ThomRainer.com sparked an intense debate on the subject of pastors and visitation. So today, we highlight that post and the points made in the post and the comments.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

Pastors are to equip members for the work of the ministry.
If a pastor is doing all the ministry in a church, the members are having their God-given mandate taken away.
Many of our congregations today have a “serve me” mentality.
If the pastor is only caring for the people in the church, the people will only care for the people in the church.
The lives of your members inform your sermons, but the Text guides what you preach.
So many times pastors are worried about pacifying the saints that they fail to reach out to sinners.
If you take away from a pastor’s outward focus, you’re likely taking away from the church’s evangelistic push.
Pastoral turnover is too high in a lot of denominations.
Biblical church members want to be a part of a church that’s making a difference.

The 15 reasons why pastors should not be the only ones visiting members are:

It’s unbiblical.
It deprives members of their roles and opportunities.
It fosters a country club mentality.
It turns a church inwardly.
It takes away from sermon preparation.
It takes away from the pastor’s outward focus.
It takes away vital leadership from the pastor.
It fosters unhealthy comparisons among the members.
It is never enough.
It leads to pastoral burnout.
It leads to high pastoral turnover.
It puts a lid on Great Commission growth of the church.
It leads pastors to get their affirmation from the wrong source.
It causes biblical church members to leave.
It is a sign that the church is dying.

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