February 3rd, 2010 
alandanielson There are 3 reasons you really shouldn’t want your pastors to be in your small group:
- Your pastors might be too transparent, and you’ll be offended that they let people see too many of their flaws.
- Your pastors might not be transparent enough, and you’ll be offended that they are holding back.
- Your pastors might not be transparent at all, and you’ll be offended thinking they are “fake”.
If your pastors come to your small group you’ll see that they are 100% human. Seeing their humanity will knock them down from any pedestal you may have put them on. When that happens, your pastors will no longer be larger-than-life.
Sadly, putting your pastors on pedestals is terribly unfair and it’s that unfairness which makes them not want to be in your small group. It’s a vicious cycle that keeps pastors at arms length and can prevent them from connecting with their church on a deep and important level. It’s a vicious cycle indeed, but it can be broken.
This cycle can only be broken when two things happen: 1. Parishioners must choose to accept their pastors’ flaws without imposing unfair or unrealistic expectations on them. 2. Pastors must choose to let down their guard and trust their church members.
Parishioners, extend mercy!
Pastors, extend trust!
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With our small groups, our pastors each lead groups, and those groups are no different than any of our other groups, with respect to how they function internally or externally. Another concern though, might be that if a group has or is led by a pastor, that the group will become more student to teacher in relation rather than all growing together in Christ.
Great point about the student/teacher dynamic, Adam! Thanks for the comment!