Perhaps Driscoll doesn’t define “produce results” because the results must (should) grow out of the mission and vision of the church.  Our church’s mission statement is “connecting people to God and one another,” so I think it’s fair for pastors and staff regularly be evaluated on the “resultsâ€? of people newly connecting with God and one another.  Right???  Obviously it is not biblical to think that pastors are hired to fulfill the mission.  However, it is biblical that they are hired to equip others to do so, and it is biblical that whether or not they are doing so is evidenced by the fruit (tangible results) – see Matt 25 and Lk 19.  Personally, I think that inattention to specific, tangible results is one of the biggest problems contributing to the decline of the church in North America (the only continent where Christianity is declining).  Obviously, I’m happy to see “resultsâ€? listed as one of Driscoll’s main points.

Wendi

What Eric said.  Plus…

~Typically, pastors inherit churches.  Most don’t build them from the ground up themselves like Driscoll did.  Thus, it may take years for a pastor to learn the church’s ways, establish trust, help work them out of current ruts, and get them to follow the vision that s/he brings to them.

~I’m reminded of Jesus’ parable of seeds that are planted, but the sower has no idea how they grow.  All he does is plant them.  God gives growth, we are merely instruments.  Now, we can be faulty instruments or inactive instruments, but God gives growth and we should focus on what God is doing rather than what we think pastors should be doing in God’s stead.

Somehow, Jay, I think you seem to have missed the point of Mark’s message.  Certainly the Spirit is ultimately responsible for the results; Mark never said anything contrary to that.  But disciples of Christ will be known by their fruit - that’s pretty much straight out of Jesus’ mouth, and it’s what Mark said in principle #1; if a pastor isn’t “producing results” (i.e., bearing fruit), then you’ve gotta wonder if he’s a disciple, and therefore worthy of respect as a disciple. 

Principle 2 - you’re absolutely right that respect is fleeting and that a respectable man today can fall into sin tomorrow.  If that happens, then he is no longer worthy of respect and therefore no longer worthy of a decent wage.  Again, Mark didn’t suggest otherwise.

Principle 3 - Just because a church can’t afford to pay a pastor a living wage doesn’t mean the church doesn’t need a pastor, it simply means the church - and the pastor - need to get creative.  But if the church CAN afford to pay a pastor a living wage, and they DON’T, that’s a problem.  And it’s a prevalent problem in America.  In my observation, it’s a problem on the part of church-goers who undervalue the role of the pastor and do not follow biblical principles such as Mark pointed out.

In addressing the issue of “inheriting churches” and the difficulty of producing/monitoring results.

1.  I think Driscoll would agree with this...and that’s why I think he’s so intense about starting new churches.  We might want to ask a hard question.  If the local congregations that James, Peter and others led aren’t still around today...what makes it so romantic to keep a particular church going?  Churches are started by apostolic leaders...but should be allowed to run their course and close the doors to give birth to new churches by new apostolic leaders.  Which brings up the 2nd point…

2.  When Driscoll and others at Acts29 talk about “re-planting” churches, Matt Chandler and The Village Church are used as the prime example of doing it well.  Well...what happened in their case is that Chandler basically laid out some non-negotiables regarding the church before he would “inherit” the church.  While technically, the church continued to exist...practically, it closed its doors and re-opened as a new church when they hired Chandler.  Perhaps we pastors are too desperate for jobs to lay out some non-negotiables (risky)...or maybe we’re just lacking apostolic leaders?  Good questions to ask, I think.

Having said all that...I totally empathize with the inheriting situation, but I’d like us to explore alternatives to the situation instead of watching pastors spend 15 years “transitioning” a church to the apostolic leader’s vision so that he can feel good about monitoring results.

Ironically, it takes someone who is “producing results” to be given the platform to talk about what it means to “produce results.”

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Again, for his people or other church goers who don’t have a clue about what their pastor does all week?