I’ve had the privilege of working with pastors from all kinds of tribes and ministry contexts. Though no two pastors are the same, we do share a lot of the same hopes for our churches. We share a lot of the same frustrations too. And while I obviously can’t speak for all pastors, I’ve spoken with enough to know I’m not alone in hoping I never hear these phrases again.
A quick caveat: Most of these points assume that the church you're attending has a leadership that actually cares about you and your spiritual growth, which seems like a safe assumption. However, we can acknowledge that there are some churches and, yes, unfortunately, some pastors in the world who do not have their congregations' best interests at heart. In such cases, the best thing to do is probably to not only not say these things, but just go ahead and find a new, healthy church.
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