Recently Steve Burghart (our Pastor of Connections here at Grace Church) shared in our Pastoral Staff meeting that he had just read an article that showed that pastors were the third most likely profession to see their marriages end in divorce. OUCH! I really think most people have no clue of the pressures and stress that pastors live under day by day – minute by minute.
That stat stuck with me as I came across a pastor’s blog which was highlighting several blog postings that dealt with this topic. I am going to go ahead and share these with you but I do so with great fear and trembling. Why? Because one of the greatest stresses of a pastor is the fact that everyone thinks they know what his motives are for everything he does (and they are usually wrong). So I am sure that some of you will jump to some conclusions but with that danger possible, here are some blogs that will show you a little aspect of what pastor’s face.
http://withoutwax.tv/2010/03/09/majority-of-pastors-have-no-friends/ - This posting speaks of the reality that most pastors have no friends.
http://claytonking.com/738 - In this blog Clayton King shares an eye opening letter from a pastor after hearing King speak on the subject, “Protecting Your Pastor.”
http://claytonking.com/media - On this page you can listen to Clayton King’s message that he preached at Newspring church on the subject, “Protecting Your Pastor.” Just scroll down under Audio Sermons and click on “Protecting Your Pastor.” This has the entire service on it so you can enjoy the music or fast-forward to Clayton’s message. I heard Clayton Speak recently while visiting my daughter down at Liberty University – he is awesome!
These website caused me to pull a book off of my shelf that is one of the rare books that I have read and re-read multiple times. It is called Standing Fast and one of the authors is my favorite preacher of all time – Dr. Ed Dobson. One of the chapters in the book that Dr Dobson wrote is entitled, “When Pastoring Makes You Angry.” The last chapter written by Dr Dobson is called, “Renewing Your Sense of Call.” In this chapter he shares some of the letters he received from his own church members during his pastoral ministry. You would be shocked by their viciousness. But every pastor could fill an entire book of these kinds of letters. But in this chapter he reminds us of four myths when it comes to ministry. Here they are:
It is never as bad as you think it is!
It is never as good as you think it is!
It is never completely fixed!
It is never completely broken!
That stat stuck with me as I came across a pastor’s blog which was highlighting several blog postings that dealt with this topic. I am going to go ahead and share these with you but I do so with great fear and trembling. Why? Because one of the greatest stresses of a pastor is the fact that everyone thinks they know what his motives are for everything he does (and they are usually wrong). So I am sure that some of you will jump to some conclusions but with that danger possible, here are some blogs that will show you a little aspect of what pastor’s face.
http://withoutwax.tv/2010/03/09/majority-of-pastors-have-no-friends/ - This posting speaks of the reality that most pastors have no friends.
http://claytonking.com/738 - In this blog Clayton King shares an eye opening letter from a pastor after hearing King speak on the subject, “Protecting Your Pastor.”
http://claytonking.com/media - On this page you can listen to Clayton King’s message that he preached at Newspring church on the subject, “Protecting Your Pastor.” Just scroll down under Audio Sermons and click on “Protecting Your Pastor.” This has the entire service on it so you can enjoy the music or fast-forward to Clayton’s message. I heard Clayton Speak recently while visiting my daughter down at Liberty University – he is awesome!
These website caused me to pull a book off of my shelf that is one of the rare books that I have read and re-read multiple times. It is called Standing Fast and one of the authors is my favorite preacher of all time – Dr. Ed Dobson. One of the chapters in the book that Dr Dobson wrote is entitled, “When Pastoring Makes You Angry.” The last chapter written by Dr Dobson is called, “Renewing Your Sense of Call.” In this chapter he shares some of the letters he received from his own church members during his pastoral ministry. You would be shocked by their viciousness. But every pastor could fill an entire book of these kinds of letters. But in this chapter he reminds us of four myths when it comes to ministry. Here they are:
It is never as bad as you think it is!
It is never as good as you think it is!
It is never completely fixed!
It is never completely broken!
1 comment:
Yeah, Scott, I've been thinking about that stat a lot too. And I loved the Pete Wilson post about pastors not having friends. And this doesn't just apply to pastors. When we isolate ourselves from biblical Christian community, we set ourselves up for a fall. You need others in your life who will speak God's truth to you when you begin to listen to the lies of the enemy. That even applies to pastors. Thanks for the post.
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