Why the Name? (Continued…)

If you are a pastor, I’m betting you have been to a church leadership conference. These are good things are there is most certainly a place for them. We all need to learn, grow, be challenged to take the next step as pastors. But more often than not, they can be really discouraging. Years ago, I went to one such conference with my friend Joel. It was one of those conferences held in a large mega church and other large-church pastors come and share their wisdom. And again, much of this is good and needed. But it was the introductions that always got me.

“Our next speaker needs no introduction. (Then why don’t we stop there?) Bob is the founder and chief visionary of Prosperity Pavilion Synergy Sanctuary and is the founder and CEO of Divine Innovation Ministries. Bob started Prosperity Pavilion in the basement of his house with only 7 people...and 4 of them were his family! (Obligatory laugh). Now prosperity church boasts a weekend attendance of 14,000 people in 6 locations. Let’s give a cheer for Bob as he comes and shares with us 7 principles for dynamic preaching!”

Bob shared and it was good.

We were released for a break time where we could go into the church bookstore and buy Bob’s books, most of them with a picture of Bob on the cover, smiling; obviously successful. I also can’t deny that I often left these conferences with the clear impression that I was something less than a good pastor.

I can’t measure up to Bob.

Most of us can’t.

Maybe that’s okay.

Some time later, I found myself back at that same conference. The same lights. The same polished intros. The same line for coffee. But something in me had shifted.

I was listening to another five-talent speaker, and instead of feeling inadequate, I felt… settled. Grateful, even.

It hit me: I’m a two-talent pastor.

Not five. Not one. Two.

And you know what? That’s not failure. That’s faithfulness.

In the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25), Jesus tells a story about a master who entrusts his servants with different sums—five, two, and one talent. There’s a lot going on in this passage theologically, but taken at face value, the five-talent servant earns five more. The two-talent servant earns two more. The one-talent servant buries his and blames the master.

Here’s what stands out to me: the master doesn’t compare the first two. He doesn’t ask the two-talent servant, “Why not five?” He doesn’t rank them or measure their worth by output.

He simply says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

That’s what I want.

It took me years to believe that “pretty good” could still be faithful. That not leading a multi-site empire doesn’t mean I’m less called, less effective, or less loved. I’m pastoring a church that loves people, serves the community, and tries to follow Jesus. That may never be conference material—but it’s Kingdom material.

And that’s enough.