Stephen Cox, who leads Bible Baptist Church in Simpsonville, near Greenville, South Carolina, will be featured in our October radio series dedicated to encouraging local pastors from coast-to-coast. October is Pastor Appreciation Month.
But it’s never too early to come alongside and lift up the pastor of your own church. We’re offering this preview story about what pastors wish you knew concerning their roles, their challenges, and their hearts for God.
Richard: Sometimes, do you find yourself being your own worst critic?
Pastor Stephen: Oh, yeah, yeah. There's always Monday morning!
(Our full interview podcast, click)
Richard: What would you say is the number one challenge you face as a pastor?
Pastor Stephen: Staying focused. I think is the number one challenge of a pastor, just not getting diverted from the mission, which is the Great Commission to see people baptized and discipled ... there's other smaller challenges like balance of family and ministry, you know a lot of times that is a challenge. But I think my challenge is staying focused on the mission at hand.
Richard: What do you wish people knew about what you and other pastors do behind the scenes that normally people aren't aware of?
Pastor Stephen: Well, I wish people realize that we put our pants on the same way they do. And I've got four children at home. I've been married to the most wonderful woman in the world for nearly 20 years coming up. Just like everybody else has bad days and struggles, pastors do as well - and I heard a statement just recently that, 'Hey, we need to stop putting pastors on pedestals and put them on the prayer list.'
And I feel like that's a powerful statement because when you put a man on a pedestal - and I understand everybody loves their pastor and sometimes you want to almost look at him in a different light - but if they only knew the burdens that a pastor carried behind the scenes, you know, sometimes there's a financial burden of the church. Sometimes there's burdens within the church family, couples that are going through problems or people he's maybe been counseling. Maybe there's a family that is not happy with things.
There's a lot of pressures that come along with it. And you know he has to go to that pulpit every Sunday and has to 'perform' the way that the people expect him to. And often it's very hard because they can't see that broken heart that he carries, or maybe the fogginess of his mind. Maybe he's just struggling. Maybe he's discouraged, but he has to say, 'Hey, I'm doing okay!'
So I feel like if people understood that, they would be a little more compassionate about pastors ... one thing that I wish that people kind of understood about a pastor. We are human. We are sinners. We are made out of the same stuff you are. And we just have the calling of God in our life. And so we sinners need the Word just like you do.
In our complete podcast interview, just below, Pastor Stephen offers wisdom, learned in the trenches of serving, for anyone considering the calling of becoming a pastor. And there is currently a national shortage of qualified pastors.
"As goes the pastor, often goes the church," and Pastor Stephen has some definite ways you can pray for your own pastor. Give a listen.
On X (formerly Twitter) recently, Pastor Stephen shared this about pastoring:
"There are many things I have learned while pastoring a local church but here are my top five…
• Our greatest enemy is our own flesh. Stay vigilant.
• Christ will build His church. Stay humble.
• Critics will come and critics will go. Stay faithful.
• People will be with you in seasons of life and ministry. Stay kind.
• Waiting on God is better than the alternative. Stay patient. Pastoring a church is like going back to school.. but you never feel that you will graduate. Always learning. Always growing."
The image and comments below reflect the joy Pastor Stephen experiences when he (and the Holy Spirit) lead someone to a relationship with Christ!