Don't Be A Hospice Worker

What is a senior pastor called to do in a small Southern Baptist Church? In the Southern Baptist Convention over eighty percent of the churches are under two hundred in membership. I have experience that many of these churches want the pastor to be a hospice worker. What I mean is they want the pastor to come in and keep them comfortable until they die. My calling as a pastor isn't to lead a church to their death bed, but to lead them to Christ who is the resurrection and the life. As a pastor I believe my job is to emphasis and lead our people to a place of commitment to purpose. Every pastor knows the Bible verse, "Where there is no vision the people perish." So why are there so many churches that have no vision? I believe too many pastors have seen themselves as hospice workers instead of shepherds and prophets. I believe people will respond when they see that they are called to something greater than church as usual. God wants to use them to build His Kingdom. Pastors, be more than a hospice worker.