8 Role Models I Wish All Young Pastors Had

I work with young pastors a lot, and I’ve done that for a few decades now. I can tell you that the #1 request I hear from these young guys is a desire to have a mentor who walks with them. In fact, you might check out one of these older posts if you want to hear more about this hope:

6 Reasons All of Us, No Matter How Old We Are, Need an Older Mentor

7 Reasons Young Men Want a Mentor 

When I think about these mentors, though, I think particularly about the need for young pastors to have role models. I’d love for each young pastor to have a mentor/mentors who are role models in these areas—some that are often hard to find:

1. Evangelistic fervor. Young men need to know older men whose hearts burn for lost people to hear the gospel. 
2. Passionate prayer. They need someone for whom prayer is in his DNA—someone who almost naturally touches heaven. 
3. Godly victory. By that phrase I mean, they need a role model who knows the reality of temptation, but who also knows the truth of ongoing victory. 
4. Family priority. Too many young pastors know several pastors who haven’t prioritized their family. They want to see someone who lives otherwise. 
5. Global heartbeat. If churches are going to do the Great Commission, young pastors need to know more pastors who are committed to the nations. 
6. Word saturation. I have role models for whom the Word of God just drips off their lips because they know it so well and love it so deeply. Not many young pastors have that example. 
7. Intentional discipling. Here, young pastors are looking for anyone who will pour into the next generations. They want to be mentees to brothers who have this commitment. 
8. Joyous service. Young pastors have often heard the struggles of ministry, but they don’t know many pastors who just celebrate the joy of doing ministry. 

Do you know what I’m thinking about as I write this post? The few men I’ve known as pastoral mentors and heroes actually exhibit ALL of these characteristics. Perhaps these things go hand-in-hand—and perhaps that’s why young pastors are still looking for these men in their lives. 

Older pastors, we have some work to do and some commitments to make.