Shades of the Past

A Pastor's Reflection on Mistakes, Mercy, and Ministry

July 10th, 2025

By: Zach Watson | Founder and Director of Refresh-Restore Ministries

For fourteen years, the Lord gave me the great privilege of serving as a pastor in four different congregations. Each assignment was a divine appointment—marked by its own unique blend of challenges and victories, sorrows and joys. Though each church differed in culture, context, and condition, there were threads of similarity woven throughout: people to love, truth to proclaim, and a faithful God who met us in every season. Looking back, I still carry some scars—but I also carry deep gratitude. We were blessed to lead and feed God’s people, and I’m thankful for every moment He allowed us to serve.

Now, over two years into this new season of itinerant ministry, I’ve been given the joy of traveling as an evangelist—preaching the gospel, encouraging the saints, and coming alongside churches in need. Whether through revival meetings, conferences, pulpit supply, or revitalization consulting, the Lord continues to open doors. As the Founder of Refresh-Restore Ministries, I count it a sacred privilege to serve those who live to serve others.

This transition from the local church pastorate to itinerant ministry has given me a wider view of the church’s beauty—and her burdens. It’s also given me space to reflect more deeply on my own leadership. With time, distance, and the Spirit’s gentle conviction, I’ve begun to see more clearly some of the ministry mistakes I made along the way. Some brought personal discomfort. Others hindered opportunities. A few, I regret to say, caused unnecessary hurt. But even in that, God has been kind. He’s used the reflection to refine me, not ruin me. And in the hope that my transparency might help another leader avoid the same missteps, I want to share a few lessons I’m learning—some the hard way.

"We are, in many things, all of us faulty. Let us not hold ourselves up as models, but let us strive after higher degrees of excellence, and let us not excuse our faults, but feel the shame of them and endeavor to do better." — Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students

Here are Five Things I'm Learning:

1. Faithfulness doesn’t always look familiar.

Your church can be faithful to the gospel and still look and act differently than the churches held up as exemplary in books, conferences, and denominational circles. Be cautious of confusing prominence with faithfulness. God is glorified in the quiet corners of ministry just as much as on the main stage.

2. Emulation isn’t inherently evil—but your example must be Jesus.

It’s a good thing to learn from pastors you respect. Many have shaped me from afar through their sermons, writings, and conferences. God has often used their voices to encourage, correct, and sharpen mine. Even the Apostle Paul wrote, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, NKJV). But notice the qualification: only as I imitate Christ. Mere imitation—copying someone’s style, strategy, or tone—won’t sustain your soul or feed your church. Christ alone must be your model and your measure.

3. Don’t be driven by pragmatism—be faithful to your context.

Ministry isn’t a math problem, and what “works” elsewhere isn’t always what’s wise where you are. Pragmatism can replace biblical integrity quietly becoming your functional theology if you’re not careful. Instead, with an open Bible and an open heart - lean into the culture of the church you’ve been called to. Learn its rhythms, bear with its weaknesses, and honor its history. God didn’t make a mistake when He placed you there—warts and all.

But more than understanding the church—fall in love with the people. Not just the ones who show up on Sunday, but the ones in your town who don’t know Jesus yet. Walk their streets. Hear their stories. Weep with them. Laugh with them. Learn their names. You can’t shepherd what you won’t love, and you can’t reach a community you secretly wish was someone else.

4. Appreciate mentors—but don’t fear their shadows.

Over the years, I’ve come to cherish the wisdom of authors whose books have shaped me deeply. But they are not the ones I answer to. One of my regrets is allowing an invisible pressure to “tow the line” for the approval of those I’ve never met—whether living or dead. That pressure sometimes strained relationships and caused confusion in the body I was actually called to lead.

5. Preaching is a feeding ministry—use a spoon, not a shovel.

Don’t mistake simplicity for shallowness. Sometimes, clarity is more important than cleverness. I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) that feeding the flock doesn’t require dumping doctrine wholesale, but delivering truth with care and precision. As Haddon Robinson once said, “The preacher’s job is not to make the simple complex, but to make the complex simple.” A spoonful of sound doctrine served in love nourishes far more than a shovel-load dumped in haste.

These are hard-won lessons, and I’m still learning them. But if even one of these thoughts can help another preacher guard his heart, love his church, or find joy in faithful obscurity, then grace has done its work again.

A Final Word

Ministry is sacred, but it’s not sterile. It’s messy, beautiful, bruising, and worth every ounce of faithfulness we can give. I’m still learning—still growing—still clinging to grace. And if you’re reading this, you probably are too. So, keep going. Keep growing. And keep your eyes on Jesus—the only perfect Shepherd who never missteps and never wastes a single lesson in the life of His servants.

Grace and peace,

Zach Watson

Quotes Sources:

1. Charles H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 2nd ed. (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1875), Lecture II: "The Call to the Ministry."

2. Haddon W. Robinson, Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), 33.

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