When Pastors Have Influence But Not Authority
For staff, elders and pastor cohorts · 4 conversations
Team Discussion Guide
One conversation for each Part of the book. Read the chapters before you meet, open with the line from the book, and choose the questions that fit your team. What is shared in the group stays in the group, and no one is required to share anything personal.
Part One · Introduction and Chapters 1–3
The Missing Thing
A pastor can be right about everything and still carry no weight in the unseen realm.
Chapter 1 · Not as the Scribes
Think of a recent Sunday. Where did the people hear a good word, and where, if anywhere, did something actually move?
Chapter 2 · What Authority Is and Is Not
Of the things often mistaken for authority, such as title, gifting, capability, personality or a following, which one does our team lean on most?
Chapter 3 · The Name Without the Reality
Where might we be using the right words over people without the reality behind them?
Try this as a team
Each person privately finishes one sentence: The place I most want God's authority, not just my influence, is… Share only if you choose.
Part Two · Chapters 4–8
Conquered Ground
The enemy does not need a stronghold in a pastor. A foothold will do.
A note for the leader. Chapters 4, 7 and 8 deal with sexual sin and the thought life. As the book advises, keep this conversation general. No one is asked to confess anything here. Bring personal struggles to God and to one trusted, mature person outside the group.
Chapter 4 · The Same Confession Twice
Why do you think sincere prayer for people sometimes leaves them unchanged? What explanations do leaders usually reach for?
Chapter 5 · Nothing in Me
In general terms, how does a small foothold in a faithful leader quietly limit what that leader can carry for others?
Chapter 6 · The Log and the Speck
Clear sight, credibility to train, boldness: which of the three costs feels most real for leaders in our setting?
Chapter 7 · The Interior Life of a Faithful Man
Why might a leader with a clean calendar and a clean record still not take the inner life seriously?
Chapter 8 · The Moment of Decision
What practical guards help a leader stop at a glance? Which of them could this team encourage in one another?
Try this as a team
Before the next meeting, each person names, privately to themselves, one trusted, mature person they could go to if they ever needed to. You do not need to tell the group who it is.
Part Three · Chapters 9–12
Discernment
Casting out the wrong thing is its own kind of powerlessness.
Chapter 9 · The Same Prayer Request
Is there a need in our church that keeps coming back for prayer and may need something more than prayer alone?
Chapter 10 · Not Every Problem Is a Demon
Which ditch does our team tend toward: spiritualizing practical problems, or dismissing spiritual realities?
Chapter 11 · The Private Conversation
What makes a private, honest conversation hard for us to start? What would make one work?
Chapter 12 · When the Room Sets the Agenda
Where might the expectations of the room, or the fear of disappointing people, be shaping what we do?
Try this as a team
Like Jesus with Bartimaeus, practice asking before ministering. This month, before praying for someone, ask: What do you want God to do for you? Then talk together about what you heard.
Part Four · Chapters 13–14 and Conclusion
Recovering Authority
I only have authority over that which I have conquered.
Chapter 13 · Abiding Before Ministering
As the demands on Jesus grew, He kept withdrawing to pray. As our demands grow, what tends to happen to our time alone with the Father?
Chapter 14 · Speaking from Conquered Ground
Where has God already given one of us ground that could now strengthen others?
Conclusion · Back to the Lakefront
What is one area where you sense God inviting you to take ground in this season?
Try this as a team
End by praying for one another by name: not for more influence, but for conquered ground. Keep the prayers short, and let silence come first.