I'm convinced that all good (as in successful for the Lord) pastors share three qualities. They may differ in style, manner, and even theology, but these three things all share. These three qualities are call, compassion, and integrity.

Studies have shown that congregations who have a pastor with a strong since of call and no higher education do better than seminary graduates. Of course, I believe that if a church is lucky enough to have a pastor with a strong call and seminary education that doesn't hurt either.

Someone once said that a true artist is a person with a voice that they feel must be heard. Well pastors need to believe that they are on a mission from God that must be shared. One of my favorite movies is The Apostle with Robert Duvall. We may cringe at some of the flaws in the character of the pastor that Duvall plays, but we have to admire his zeal. No matter where he is Duvall's character organizes churches. From the big mega congregation the movie begins with, to the small congregation he starts while in hiding, to the chain gang he works on at the film's end. Now that friends is a sense of call.

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Outside of the needs of family, the needs of the congregation must come before all else. Recognizing that the needs of the congregation include a pastor who takes carer of his emotional, physical, and spiritual health. In the Gospel of John Jesus calls for just that kind of dedicated servamthood from all his followers. Does the Lord expect less from his leaders? And, of course, for a congregation to have a healthy spiritual life a balance of ministry within the church and outreach must be maintained.

A recent business article in The Washington Post noted that companies today don't just want a good work effort from their employees, they want their entire devotion. Pastors without that sense of call from God will not survive in today's church, and their congregations will suffer. A note of warning here, all pastors are only human. There will be times when even those with the strongest sense of call have down times. Also it is very dangerous for any individual or small group to judge a pastor's sense of call after the pastor has been in ministry in a church for a while. Outside guidance should be sought for such a determination.

Compassion, unlike the sense of call, is something that can be grown in a leader's life. In fact, I would say it's something that Christian leaders, no matter how compassionate they are, should be growing in their personal lives. Jesus was so strong in compassion it should have been his middle name. Jesus Compassion Christ. How many times do the gospels report that Jesus pushed away his own personal needs because he felt compassion for others? Compassion may have been the main motivating force in his life. When I seek to determine the level of a person's spiritual life I try and understand how compassionate they are. Compassion is always feeling that leads to action. It's a caring that we must do something about. That kind of compassion must be a gift of the Holy Spirit. One of the Spirit's gifts that everyone can share. In his book Social Intelligence PHD Daniel Coleman writes that “Our brain has been preset for kindness.” Compassion is more than kindness it's love for another.

In their book How God Changes Your Brain, Andrew Newberg, M.D., and Mark Robert Waldman, report on findings from the Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the University of Pennsylvania. From observing neurons in the brain during mediation, Waldman and Newberg believe that such contemplation changes the structure of the brain influencing a person's spiritual life. A person who meditates on compassion and love will become more like that, but one who meditates on negative emotions will become more like that. The book says these changes will occur even if the mediator doesn't believe in God. But studies of religious people found that those who believe in a compassionate loving God grow in those emotions, while those who see God as judgmental and quick to anger will grow in those emotions. Although measurable change over a short period of time requires meditating 30 minutes a day, less intense contemplation will cause changes over a longer period of time. The authors believe that positive religion is a good thing.

For the small church pastor, the responsibilities of holding an outside job, taking care of their family, and being faithful to their ministry duties is an impossible job. Still, a pastor's main responsibility to the congregation should always be time spent in devotion and meditation. Instead of trying to be god jr. small church pastors need to develop the knack for sharing pastoral duties with lay leaders. There is no reason why lay leaders can't take on many pastoral duties with guidance from the pastor. Th