How To Boil a Frog

It was always the strange stories that tended to stick in my mind. My grandfather was always full of wisdom. As a child I loved going to visit him and my grandmother. We would sit out on his front porch as he lit his pipe and I ate whatever sugary sweet delight my grandmother had made for me. And grandad would proceed to tell me some of his home spun parables to make me laugh or to teach me life lessons.

My grandfather told me that the best time to hunt for snipes was at sunset. We would walk through the woods at sunset whistling for those snipes until bedtime. I never caught one of those snipes. I found out years later that those elusive snipes didn't really exist. Snipe hunting was just an excuse for me and my grandfather to spend time together. Grandfather taught me that the early bird gets the fish, and the fish get the worms. And we early birds would wake up at the crack of dawn, grab our worms, and spend the mornings catching as many fish out of the pond as we could before lunch.

Out of all the tales of wisdom that my grandfather told me, the one that still sticks out in my mind to this day is the one about boiling a frog. Now I still have yet to figure out why anyone would want to boil a frog. Nonetheless, my grandfather did not neglect to teach me this very important lesson just in case the need for frog boiling ever presented itself. My grandfather said that the only way one should ever boil a frog was by putting it in a pot cold water and very slowly increasing the heat. Because if you increase the heat too fast, the frog would jump out of the pot. But if you incrementally increase the heat very slowly, the frog will not notice the change in temperature, and he will even grow to love the warmer temperatures.

Ive never used this information to boil a frog. But I have applied it to ministry. In fact, the parable of boiling a frog has become one of the most important lessons that I have learned as a pastor relating to his congregation. I have known many young pastors come into leadership of a church, and to use the analogy of the frog, begin to turn the heat up too quickly. They begin to immediately implement massive changes in the church which causes the frogs to become hopping mad.

I spoke with a member of a church who had just hired a new pastor. This church was a small country church that had been deacon led since its inception.  I was told that on day one of his job, this pastor called a meeting with the deacons and told them that they were no longer the leaders of the church. He went on to tell the deacons that he was going to raise up elders who were capable of preaching and teaching to be leaders, And this pastor told the deacons that until elders were raised up, he would assume sole leadership of the church. That pastor turned the heat up way too fast. And the frogs began to hop on him so quickly that he was forced to resign within two weeks of his hiring.

Another young pastor noticed that one of his congregants had been absent from attending church services for months. He reached out to the man to convince him to come back to church. The man assured his pastor that he would begin attending once again, but he didn't follow through on his promise. Because of this, the pastor decided to enact church discipline on the man and remove him from being a member. The pastor knew that this man was struggling with severe depression and anxiety, but he still decided to oust the man from the church. And once more, the frogs began to hop.

And yet another pastor that I know very well took his first church in South Georgia. the church was a very traditional which had not been taught many deep doctrines of the faith. In particular, the church had never been taught the doctrine of predestination in the reformed vein of teaching. This pastor decided to set them straight and on his very first Wednesday night Bible study, he took the church through Romans 9 and force fed them the doctrine of predestination. The frogs began to hop so fast that the pastor almost found himself without a job.

Did the pastor who wanted to immediately implement elders have a biblical precedence to support his change? Yes, he did. But he failed to first earn the trust of his congregation before introducing such a radical change. Is applying church discipline to a church member who refuses to attend biblical? Absolutely. But that pastor failed to have understanding, compassion and sympathy for why the man was not coming to church. And is the doctrine of predestination important? For sure. But his people had not been taught and prepared to grasp such a deep doctrine.

Just because something is biblical does not mean it should be applied immediately. Even Jesus said to His disciples, "“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now (John 16:12)." The Holy Spirit had not yet revealed the things that Christ wanted to teach the disciples. And also as our Lord said, they were not yet able to bear many of the truths that Jesus desired for them to know.

I had the privilege of knowing David Miller as a mentor and friend. Brother David was paraplegic and unable to move any part of his body from the neck down. Yet he was one of the most powerful evangelistic preachers that I have ever known. I had brother David come to the first church that I pastored to give a series of sermons to our congregation. And I was able to spend a great deal of one on one time learning from him. As a young pastor I had many changes that I wanted to make in my first church. I asked brother David, "What is the best way to implement much needed biblical change within a church?" And I'll never forget his answer. David said, "You just focus on loving on your people and preaching the word faithfully with no agenda. And the Lord will bring the changes that are needed."

In other words, don't turn up the heat too fast. Or your frogs will either jump all over you or jump right out of your pot (church) and into another where the heat is not so intense.

I embraced brother David's advice. And as a young pastor, I never forgot the parable of how to boil a frog. In fact, I use it as a constant reminder whenever I see the need for change. I ask myself, "Is there a biblical precedence for turning up the heat? And if so, go slow." The church that I currently serve at was deacon led and light on its depth of Bible doctrine when I became its pastor almost eight years ago. It took almost four years for the church to embrace eldership. And when that happened, it was unanimously embraced. And eight years later, our church has a love for learning biblical doctrine and truth. And I did not do anything except turn the heat up as slowly as possible.

As brother David told me, I preached the word of God, and I loved on our people. I did not have to push or fight to change anything. When the congregation saw that I had no agenda, that I loved them, and the word of God was lovingly placed before them, the biblical changes that were needed came naturally and were received joyfully.

I don't know everything and I have so much to learn even now as a pastor. But one lesson I wish to pass on to every new and aspiring ministry leader is the parable of boiling a frog.

Young pastor; do not force change, even when you have a Bible verse to support your reasoning. Spend the first few years of your pastorate focusing on just loving your people and preaching faithfully the Word of God. Leave your agenda at the door and humbly seek to earn the trust of your spiritual family of frogs (I say that with the utmost respect). Let the love of God bring the change that is needed. Granted, if there is a change needed due to something heretical being embraced within the church, then immediate change is warranted. But most times, that is not the case.

My grandfather would have been a great pastor. And I firmly believe that a class on frog boiling should be taught in every seminary. Because it is not only sound biblical knowledge that makes a pastor. It is also the ability to lovingly lead and Shepard his saintly frogs and keep them from jumping out of the pot. Love your people pastor. Your job is to preach the Word faithfully. Trust in the Lord, and let Him bring the change.