Ryan Williams » Church Church Leadership Planning Church Planting Sanctification

After selling everything and moving from Australia to intern at Mars Hill Church, Ryan Williams joined the Mars Hill Lead Pastor Residency Program. Now, a year after taking the helm as Lead Pastor at Mars Hill Church Everett, Pastor Ryan reflects on what he’s learned in his first year as a young lead pastor.

1. No matter how called or prepared you feel, the weight of responsibility is something you cannot prepare for.

You may have heard the analogy, “Men are like trucks: they drive straighter with a weighted load.” It’s true—men were built for responsibility. As a young pastor, you rightfully carry the responsibility of the church on your shoulders. And as prepared as you can make yourself, the load will be heavy. You will give an account to the Lord (Heb. 13:17) for your conduct. At times the weight will feel unbearable, but those are the times you must lean into Jesus, who is ultimately responsible for building his church. He will carry all that you don’t need to.

2. No matter how theologically gifted you are, you will be stretched in your understanding of how the gospel applies to real life.

Chances are that if you are a young leader, you haven’t dealt with a large amount of pastoral situations like domestic violence, divorce, sexual abuse, and the like. As much as you might have a hypothetical answer for how you would respond to people in these situations, your “solutions” get thrown out the window when the effects of sin come through your door. Trust the Holy Spirit to point people to Jesus through you, rather than whatever you prepared.

At times the weight will feel unbearable, but those are the times you must lean into Jesus.

3. Answers you thought you were sure of, you will not be so sure of, but you will see the importance of Jesus as the solution for everything.

I am sure that you, like me, have many opinions about secondary issues in the church, like the role of deacons, leadership development strategies, and so on. Now that you’re in charge, you get to implement everything you believe, right? When you actually get into the role and start working hard, you will be surprised at just how secondary those issues really are. It doesn’t mean they don’t have merit, but you will develop grace for those who hold different views from yours.

4. Spiritual warfare will ramp up and Satan will test your resolve.

In war, snipers don’t usually worry about picking off privates. Their target is officers, and the higher-ranking, the better. When you step into the role of leader, you need to be prepared for your life to get harder. Your relationships will get tougher, including those with your family, and Satan will keep dangling his sin-filled hooks in front of you. It will not be easy, but fight to believe the gospel and remain humble. Speak to other leaders around you, be open and honest about your struggles, and if you are on your own, find a mature godly pastor from another church and talk to him.

Trust the Holy Spirit to point people to Jesus through you.

5. The sin you thought was dead will rear its ugly head again, and old wounds will be pressed on.

You think that you don’t struggle with sexual temptation, alcohol, drugs, (insert sin here) anymore? Put that sin to death years ago? Becoming a leader is like pressure-testing the repairs on a tire. If there is still a leak, it will be sprung. Walk in openness with your other leaders—tell them the sins you struggle with, have them pray for you, and trust Jesus to close the areas of sin that still exist.

6. You will hurt for your church. When people leave or hurt members of your congregation, you will feel pain.

The Bible tells us Jesus had compassion on the crowds (Matt. 15:32). Jesus felt for the pain of his followers, and you will feel for the members of your congregation when they sin or are sinned against. You will cry for them, hurt with them, and feel joy for them. Like it or not, emotionally, you will feel what those in your church feel.

When you step into the role of leader, you need to be prepared for your life to get harder.

7. On your own, you are completely incapable of completing the task set in front of you.

You didn’t get this job because you are awesome and everyone wants to see how awesome you are. You got the job because you are a train wreck, and Jesus uses train wrecks to build his church so he gets all the glory. You will realize that quickly and will embrace how very much in need of his grace you are to achieve anything.

8. People will look to you no matter what situation you are in, even if there are more qualified people around you.

You are the leader, and in any situation people will defer to your leadership. Even in everyday situations, like where to get lunch, or crises like what to do while waiting for an ambulance to arrive, people will look to you. Don’t freak out! Delegate decisions to others if need be, but when you are in the position to lead, take control humbly and lovingly, and lead. Don’t shy from leadership, but remember that good leaders also know when to ask someone with more experience or insight for help.

Leading a church as a young man is tough, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Every week I see the changed lives and hear the stories of people being saved by Jesus, being healed by Jesus, and growing in their relationship with Jesus.

We are on the front lines of a spiritual battle, but Jesus won, and we are taking more and more ground from the enemy every day. By God’s grace, we’ll continue to do so until the Kingdom comes.

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