The depth and keenness of this realization for a pastor is critical since it connects directly with his motivation to develop greater direction over his own personal and professional life. Clergy associations foster a definite sense of distance of independence, from the institutional church. The presence of such psychological distance is essential for a pastor's depending sense of autonomy. This experience makes it possible for a pastor to feel less absorbed into the church and therefore less helpless at the hands of his judicatory or congregation. The church's need for compassionate, forceful clergy leadership runs afoul of its own traditional practices as an employer.
Security breeds passivity.
And passivity and risk-taking are mutually exclusive. Both go hand in hand. The link, therefore, between the pastor's willingness to let go security and his adaptive leadership is a clear and a direct one. Their net effect is twofold. First, to make possible a sufficient separation between the pastor and his congregation so that he can stand up against it, setting the tension necessary for growth.