Some time ago a longtime pastor friend from another church was confiding in me about both the highs and lows of leading a congregation. Because of his genuine sadness over the lows, I joked with him that I was going to do a Bible study entitled How to Kill Your Pastor.
My friend, seeing the veiled humor in the concept, shared that thought with another fellow pastor, who quickly responded; “When can he come teach this at my church?”
We church members tend to think of our pastors as almost super-humans and forget that they, also, are men of like passions (see Acts 14:15). We often put demands on them which, frankly, are impossible for one man to meet. I’m sure someone is already saying my pastor is always there for me and my family. That may be so, but at what cost to your pastor and his family? It is no wonder that many of our local churches are without a pastor.
Most of the pastors in the circles in which I run are bi-vocational pastors, as was the Apostle Paul. (Acts 18:3, 2 Thessalonians 3:8)
A bi-vocational pastor is a semi-fancy term that means a pastor who works a regular 40-hour week job and pastors a church. Did you know that 51 percent of pastors quit pastoring their churches within 2 to 5 years. Do you think those pastors might be stressed out?
Biblically, a pastor’s job duties boil down to only two obligations as the local church leader. These two pastoral obligations are to pray and preach the Word. (Acts 6:4)
Did you also know that it is not the pastor’s job to wait on you hand and foot at your every whim. (Acts 6:1-2)
So, whose job is it to visit the widows and fatherless, feed the poor, visit the sick, and take care of the countless other necessary needs of a church congregation? Answer: Yours—at the direction of the deacons. (Acts 6:3)
Top Three Ways to Kill Your Pastor
#3. Talk about your pastor behind his back.
#2. Never do any church work, like visiting those in need.
#1. Lay out of nearly every church service, die, and expect your pastor to preach you into heaven!
Many pastors are stressed, depressed and yes, even in tears, because they give their all to the ministry of the Word, seeing very little results. The prophet Jeremiah explained his and their anguish this way: “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughters of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1)
If you would rather help your pastor live and thrive in the ministry, be a doer of the Word and not a forgetful hearer. Offer your help to the church at every need which arises. Pray for your pastor and the other members of the congregation. Faithfully attend every church service. And last, but not least, say Amen at least once per service.
Many of the statistics in this article are from Pastoral Care Inc., a resource found while doing research for this article. If you get nothing else from this article, please pass on the website for Pastoral Care to your pastor: www.pastoralcareinc.com.