Are U an Emperor or a Controller?

Orginally published on Monday, November 12, 2007 at 9:03 AM
by Todd Rhoades

The term equip means different things to different people. Most pastors believe they "equip" (Ephesians 4) because they preach the gifts of the Spirit and support the priesthood of believers--and seek more volunteers. But I'd like to offer you a better way to assess where you and your church are in terms of the equipping value. This is #1 of a five-part mini-series that charts the degrees of equipping on a 10-point continuum where 10 represents the point of highest value.

Point 1: Emperor Pastor—Point 1 is at the lowest end of the equipping continuum. This pastor functions as the pastor, striving to be all things to all people. He or she is the ultimate server, schooled and trained to do whatever it takes to carry out acts of service for people. This kind of pastor tends to be in a church with less than 10 percent of the active attendees involved in an ongoing ministry role.

Although the Emperor Pastor can have a wonderful heart, a servant’s attitude, and be fully committed, quite often there exists some degree of emotional baggage or self-image issue that causes the pastor to try to be all things to all people. Most pastors in this category go to bed with their cell phones or beepers on in case someone needs to get hold of them. They’re available 24/7 and even make this one of their bragging rights. The problem is that this sort of codependent mind-set rewards enabling behavior from the church members, who applaud their pastor’s efforts to “be there for them.”

Typically, these kinds of churches are small, and the pastor holds the keys to every room in the church. He or she often is in charge of the janitorial services, landscaping, and any number of other managerial duties because they are “in charge.” Who can argue with the servant’s heart of God’s go-to-person? The problem is that most people are intentionally or unintentionally kept out of ministry and prevented from using their gifts because of the culture this type of pastor perpetuates.

Point 2: Controller Pastor—The Controller Pastor is open to letting others be involved in a role of service, so long as it’s one of support to his or her ministry. The Controller functions much the same as the Emperor, but the attitude is a bit less “milk toast” or doormat and more possessive and self-centered. Like the seagulls in the movie, Finding Nemo, this pastor conveys the idea of “mine, mine, mine.”

In extreme cases, where the polity of the church allows, the pastor is in control of the property, dictates who gets hired and fired, and for the most part determines where the money is spent and what happens on the church calendar. Sometimes slightly more people are involved in acts of service, but the pastor sees them as ministry pawns and recruits them to do the “little jobs” around the church.

Most controlling pastors either have narcissistic personalities or issues stemming from their families of origin. Regardless, though, the result is unhealthy. These churches can grow, but it usually happens when the pastor has a strong speaking gift or when there are enough people who like to follow a pastor with this dictatorial style. Controller Pastors tend to be more common in independent churches than they are in denominational tribes because the latter require more checks and balances than are comfortable for controllers. These churches also tend to be small because they lack leadership development. There’s only room for one key leader, who’s usually the pastor. Sometimes, however, it’s a lay “boss” who hires the pastor to function as a church chaplain.

The result of Emperor or Controller pastoring styles is limited spiritual growth because people fail to use their gifts in ministry and to receive significant ministry through others’ gifts. Both types discourage equipping and are at the lowest end of the Empowering continuum.

For an Empowering Continuum assessment, go to http://www.rev.org and click on Me to We resources, and then “The Empowering Church Assessment.” In next week’s edition of LeadingIdeas, we’ll discuss Points 3 and 4, the Promoter and the Recruiter.

Alan

Alan Nelson is the executive editor of Rev! Magazine, the author of a dozen books, and has been a pastor for 20 years. email him at or visit his blog, Rev! Unplugged.

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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.

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