Concerns regarding the Scottish Pastors top 10

Yesterday's post created a bit of interest and a couple of comments that are worth checking out and add to as people see fit. I thought it would be a helpful exercise to outline why this list concerns me as a young pastor starting out but convinced we need to take a much bigger view. I would also like to direct you to an article on John Brand's blog, posted yesterday which also speaks to this subject. Find it at http://stewardofthesecretthings.com/2007/11/07/222-and-spurgeon/

1. Given the basis of this blog (promoting the urgent need for doctrinal clarity and communication in the local church) it is probably no surprise that there is concern that there is no sense of the need for doctrinal clarity in pastors. It should not be assumed because the level of doctrinal illitercay in the present age has its origins in the pastorate; it is because pastors don't know and value doctrine that people in Scottish churches do not know and value doctrine.
2. The loss of any sense of the pastor being given to holiness as being of any sort of importance. McCheyne, a fine Scottish pastor, said that his own personal holiness was of great importance to those who he had been given to care for. I struggle to see what has changed that would make this no longer a priority.
3. That this could in some sense be used denominationally as a mandate for the form and content of the training of pastors. Already there is a sense of the professionalisation of the pastorate being reflected in the training institutions and this list, if seen as a request from the churches will pose significant difficulties if adopted as the perceived wisdom. I urge us to rethink the idea that we always have to give people what they want, we need to be giving God what He wants and it is not professional counsellors, who know how to organise committees and tell good jokes during their clever communication.
4. That pastors would take this as a mandate to enact the most popular models of ministry that exist at that moment in history, with only secondary reference to the scriptures preferring instead the models of the world, without thought to discipleship and resting on the laurels of statistics and success (and that in purely human terms).
5. That prayer should not even be hinted at is disastrous and speaks widely of the malaise that there is in regard to prayer in this nation. How busy are prayer meetings? How many pray in their own time?- and yet is it that pastors are not setting an example? I suspect so.
6. That pastors would take this as an affirmation of the course that their ministry has taken, rather than being filled with godly sorrow and asking that God, by His Spirit, would transform them and transform their ministries. And that being willing to ask that the Lord would spare them a second time for caring for His church such is the mess they have made first time around.

Here are some alternatives juxtaposed to the original list.

1. Leadership skills- Humility is the far greater need

2. Developing Abilities- Developing people's love for God

3. Recognising Abilities- Recognising inabilities apart from God and His grace

4. Knowledge of denominational principles- Commitment to and knowledge of doctrine and Biblical truth

5. Good communicator- Faithful preacher of God's Word

6. People focused- Captivated by God and His awesome majesty

7. Knowledge of church structure- Knowledge of the Gospel

8. Practical work experience- Practical holiness

9. Management skills- Given to Prayer

10. Active participant in the community- Does the work of an evangelist