I have a confession to make. I’m never gonna make it as a “cool” pastor in regard to what seems to be “cool” in today’s culture. There are several reasons why. First, I simply can’t wear skinny jeans. Honestly, seriously, I cannot wear skinny jeans! It’s an entirely undoable task for me. It seems to require too much effort to put them on and looks incredibly uncomfortable having them on. Second, I’m not going to shop for my shirts in the women’s department. Call me fundamentalist, old-fashioned, dinosaur, or whatever you want to call me. I just believe pastors should not capitulate to our current cultural trends of blurring gender lines. Third, I’ll never have a $300 salon-groomed hairstyle. Even though my church provides me with a gracious salary, I still cut my own hair with Wal-mart clippers. I know, it doesn’t look great, but it’s free.
As far as “coolness” goes though, I’m glad that it doesn’t bother me that I’m lacking on the “coolness” chart. It’s not my goal. It’s nowhere on my radar. Frankly, I’m delighted that is the case for a number of reasons.
If I were striving to be cool, achieving “coolness” would cost me far more than I am willing to spend. It’s costly monetarily to keep up with trendy wear. Even if it’s easily affordable, money spent to keep me “cool” could be spent in ways of far greater eternal value.
If I were striving to be cool, I fear my world would begin to revolve around me instead of having the proper priorities of God, family, others, and then me.
If I were striving to be cool, I fear I would begin to believe that in terms of my communication as a pastor, relevance would be centered on my appearance rather than exposition of and reliance upon God’s Word.
If I were striving to be cool, I fear that I would become my own idol, seeking the appreciation of others toward my “coolness” rather than viewing myself as a servant of the Word, a feeder of the flock, who delights in watching people grow in the faith, not in the growth of my own little fan base.
If I were striving to be cool, I fear that the effort put forth to make sure that I am constantly “hip” would interfere to a large degree with what should be my aim, namely, to pursue “holiness.”
Can a pastor be “cool” and holy? Maybe. Can one be trendy in clothes, appearance, lingo and still remain in serious pursuit of godliness? I’m not saying it is impossible, but it is surely very difficult to strike the right balance of pursuing godliness internally when everything externally is so absorbed in culture. So can it be done? Again, possibly. But you are probably going to wear yourself out if your aim in life is to be both.
The question comes down to this: what matters the most in terms of eternal value, lasting impact upon God’s people, and satisfying joy for your own soul? Being hip? Or being holy? Jesus calls us to the latter, not the former (Matt 5:48). The Bible calls us to the latter, not the former (Heb 12:14). And when life crumbles, when life is coming to an end, when life hangs on the cliff of eternity, our people will hunger for the latter, not the former. Be holy, dear pastor. “Coolness” never lasts.
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