{"id":336,"date":"2025-10-08T14:38:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T14:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/?p=336"},"modified":"2025-10-13T12:57:45","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T12:57:45","slug":"5-ways-pastors-can-avoid-losing-their-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/5-ways-pastors-can-avoid-losing-their-way\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways Pastors Can Avoid Losing Their Way"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\"losing\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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At some point, you have likely sung the words, \u201cProne to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love\u2026\u201d[1]<\/a> Though the soothing melody softens the blow, it\u2019s a frighteningly true statement for Christ-followers\u2014especially those in leadership.
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\n<\/strong>In fact, one study of Christian leaders found that only\u00a01 in 3 finish well<\/strong>.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Aware of our own propensity to wander, we researched what causes leaders to lose their way. Although strong currents pull us away from a faithful finish, we identified five essential practices of leaders who remain steadfast and mission true for a lifetime.<\/p>\n

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  1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Acknowledge your propensity to wander.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Leaders who think they aren\u2019t vulnerable to losing their way won\u2019t be aware of the subtle but significant impact of small compromises. When they hear of others\u2019 falls or drift, they might think \u201cHow could they let that happen?\u201d rather than, \u201cHow can I make sure the same doesn\u2019t happen to me?\u201d<\/p>\n

    Humble introspection is required to ask where, not if, we, too, are slowly drifting.<\/p>\n

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    1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Focus on who you are, not what you do.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Henri Nouwen wrote that we inhabit \u201ca world constantly trying to convince us that the burden is on us to prove that we are worthy of being loved.\u201d[3]<\/a> In our quest to earn what God says we inherently possess, we too often run roughshod over relationships, failing to love God and others well. Our first effort must be to reframe our way of thinking, to recognize that entirely apart from our achievements, aspirations, and machinations, we are the beloved of God, who absolutely delights in his children.<\/p>\n

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      1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Slow down.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        When the life of a leader is rushed, it\u2019s hard to see when and where we\u2019ve gotten off course. We become so preoccupied with doing<\/em> that we fail to pause and ask if the things we\u2019re doing are aligned with our mission. Speed limits our vision, depriving us of the ability to see beyond the immediate future and beyond ourselves to those around us.<\/p>\n

        Avoiding drift requires a change of pace: a time and place to regularly pause, consider, and take stock. We won\u2019t know that we\u2019re veering off course unless we slow down enough to look up and check our location.<\/p>\n

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        1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Pray and obey.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Pastors who finish well prioritize prayer\u2014not as a last resort, but as a non-negotiable first priority. Prayer is an essential guardrail that recenters us and reminds us who we are and who God is. Amid the immense pressures of pastoral leadership, mission true pastors pray and remember, \u201cWe must obey God rather than human beings!\u201d (Acts 5:29).<\/p>\n

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          1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Keep others close.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            On a safari tour in Akagera National Park, Rwanda, our guide pointed to a lone gazelle grazing and asked, \u201cDo you know what that is called?\u201d<\/p>\n

            \u201cGazelle!\u201d someone helpfully offered.<\/p>\n

            \u201cDinner,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n

            1 Peter 5:8 warns that our enemy \u201cprowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.\u201d And isolation makes us vulnerable. Leaders who drift often do so quietly, without notice, because they lack close relationships with others willing to ask hard questions or offer correction.<\/p>\n

            We need more than companions; we need friends who know us deeply and will speak the truth for the sake of our souls.<\/p>\n

            Who knows you fully? The Johari Window, developed by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham, helps us see that we all have a \u201chidden area\u201d\u2014known to ourselves but undisclosed to others. Any growth in this area is a warning sign to pause, ask difficult questions, and invite trusted friends into the conversation.<\/p>\n

            If you\u2019re ready to take practical steps toward finishing well, we\u2019ve created a set of free tools to help you reflect, recalibrate, and refresh your leadership journey. Access the free resources at howleaderslosetheirway.com<\/a>\u2014and press on toward a faithful finish.<\/p>\n

            [1]<\/a> Robert Robinson, \u201cCome, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,\u201d 1758, https:\/\/hymnary.org<\/p>\n

            \/text\/come_thou_fount_of_every_blessing.<\/p>\n

            [2]<\/a> J. Robert Clinton, \u201cListen Up Leaders!\u201d (Barnabas Publishers, 1989), 7, https:\/\/<\/p>\n

            clintonleadership.com\/resources\/complimentary\/ListenUpLeaders.pdf. Not all the<\/p>\n

            leaders Clinton identified were described in enough detail to be evaluated, but of<\/p>\n

            those who were, only about 30 percent finished well by Clinton\u2019s definition. Although<\/p>\n

            Clinton conducted his research decades ago, there\u2019s no reason to believe that what<\/p>\n

            has been true for millennia has changed in recent years.<\/p>\n

            [3]<\/a> Henri J. M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World <\/em>(New<\/p>\n

            York: Crossroad, 1992), 129.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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            Peter Greer and Jill Heisey are co-authors of <\/em>How Leaders Lose Their Way, available September 16 from IVP.<\/em><\/p>\n

            Peter\u00a0Greer<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0is president and CEO of HOPE International, a global nonprofit working to alleviate physical and spiritual poverty in 29 countries around the world. Peter\u2019s favorite part of his role is spending time with the remarkable entrepreneurs HOPE serves. A graduate of Harvard\u2019s Kennedy School, Peter has co-authored over 15 books, including\u00a0Lead with Prayer<\/i>,\u00a0Mission Drift<\/i>,\u00a0Rooting for Rivals<\/i>, and\u00a0How Leaders Lose Their Way<\/i>. While his sports loyalties remain in New England, he lives with his wife, Laurel, and their four children in Lancaster, PA.<\/p>\n

            Jill Heisey<\/strong> is a writer who is passionate about helping leaders and nonprofits share their stories. She has collaborated on the books\u00a0Lead with Prayer<\/i>,\u00a0Rooting for Rivals<\/i>, and\u00a0The Gift of Disillusionment<\/i>; written the children’s book\u00a0Keza Paints a Bright Future<\/i>; and authored articles featured on Christianity Today’s\u00a0Better Samaritan<\/i>\u00a0blog. Jill graduated from Messiah University with degrees in politics and Spanish and resides outside Washington, DC, with her husband, Bryan, and their two daughters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

            <\/div>\n

            The post 5 Ways Pastors Can Avoid Losing Their Way<\/a> appeared first on Newbreed Training<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            At some point, you have likely sung the words, \u201cProne to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":339,"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions\/339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamcameroon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}