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Pastoral ministry is hard …

Harder than most people know. Much harder than I ever suspected, I think.

Oh, it’s not the study that’s difficult. It can be demanding, yes, but it’s also very rich and rewarding — intellectually stimulating and spiritually satisfying. And it’s not the teaching and preaching that take a toll at last. Any pastor worth his salt loves to teach his people and loves to preach God’s Word. It’s not the long hours that are exhausting, or the many things that have to be done — meetings attended, visits made, calls returned, emails answered, folks counseled, problems solved, friends walked with, and so on. None of that is what makes ministry hard.

No, what makes it hard are the responses to the work, which (with a few exceptions) are generally things like indifference, boredom, persistent disapproval, criticism, disrespect, insult. Some of the latest figures I can find indicate that 80% of pastors (and 84% of pastor’s spouses) live in a relentless state of discouragement. There was a time in our country, not too long ago, when the pastoral profession was held in some esteem, both in the church and in the community. Now pastors are among the least honorable, and 70% or more say that pastoral ministry has depleted their sense of self-worth and confidence. Fifty percent of pastors say they would leave the ministry tomorrow, if they could, but they have no other way to make a living. The majority of pastor’s wives surveyed said the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

I wonder what the symptoms of burn-out are. Some days I just weep, and I don’t know why. Sometimes I fantasize about running away, and I wonder if it would even matter. I feel exhausted. I never sleep too well. My blood pressure is elevated. And I just may be self-medicating on caffeine!

Pray for my family, and for me. Pastoral ministry is hard!

The latest from Missional Press!

Planting Churches in the Real World by Joel Rainey

My good friend Joel’s first book is about to be released from Missional Press, and let me say that it’s a delightful and eminently profitable read. As the publisher’s press release notes:

Most church planting literature highlights enormously successful ministries. While such ministries can serve as a noble benchmark for every church planter, they are far from the norm. Most who plant churches will never see their name in lights, and all who plant churches will find it to be one of the most difficult things they have ever sought to accomplish.

Here is wise counsel from a faithful pastor learned well while planting churches in the real world.

(Missional Press is offering a pre-publication sale. The book retails for $14.99 but if you enter the code CJ5E9D at checkout, you will receive 20% off your purchase of Planting Churches in the Real World. Click here to purchase the book. The book should be shipping around the end of April.)

On the road again …

Well, I’ve spent a couple of days making my way from Atlanta, GA to Manhattan, KS … driving by way of Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri. Total road time was about 14 hours. Some folks, I suppose, would think that a waste of time, an unnecessary burden, too much trouble, and anything but fun. They would be wrong!

I stopped all along the way — to get gas for the car, to have a bite to eat, to grab some coffee (after which I had to stop at the rest areas) — and all along the way, then, I met folks, all kinds of folks, and just got to spend a little time with people I didn’t know until the moment our ways crossed. I hope it was helpful for them; it was very, very good for me! The regularity of everyday life can, if we’re not careful (and we’re often not), breed complacency in us, and we get settled and comfortable and “at home” in the world, forgetting the mission we’ve been given to the world.

Let me recommend that you get on the road again as soon as possible!

Stained Glass Masquerade

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain?
But if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade.

– Casting Crowns