Being ‘a’ pastor and not ‘the’
pastor, and serving as an elder in the church, has given me an invaluable
glimpse into the privileges and perils of pastoral work.
Today, like many Sundays, I arrive
at the afternoon physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted.
Spent. Yet there’s family time to be had. The work is costly. Yet there have
been times when I’ve not been in ministry, and at these times I’ve often felt
Sunday was a nothing day. I’m built to work on Sundays — to serve the people of
God — but it’s a tenuous thing. And I find nowadays I’m supporting a pastor as
part of a pastoral team. What’s it like for the pastor who bears ultimate
responsibility?
I think that’s what it’s like for
most pastors. And many may not truly get that. Not that this is about a pity
party; it’s about reality. Pastors should be dissuaded from ministry, because
it chews half of us up (statistically) and spews us out. Pastoral work teaches
resilience because it requires resilience. Paradoxically, this is exactly what
motivates most pastors to serve God. It’s not about them.
The more I think about it, the more
tenuous the role of pastoral work is.
Pastors need to be prayed for.
Pastors need prayer for discernment. They can damage people
without it. How many ‘jobs’ require such spiritual insight? Few! What needs to
be seen needs to be seen. We must pray that God would lead pastors to see truth
and mete grace.
Pastors need our prayers for courage. To call things what they are.
But not prematurely; that’s where discernment is crucial. Many are the moments
in so many jobs where we know we have to say or speak something when it feels
like it’s a risk. For pastors, it happens so frequently they must get used to
working under that pressure. You see it’s not just humanity who will judge a
pastor. God knows when a pastor is
nudged. We ought to pray that when pastors receive the nudge of the Holy Spirit
that they have the composure and conviction to act. We need to pray to these
ends.
Pastors need our prayers to know when to stay quiet and when to
speak up. They need to stay quiet when someone is telling them a story that
perhaps has never been shared before. When that person is taking a risk of
trust. The moment is palpable, and the pastor knows they stand on hallowed
ground. It’s someone’s story of abuse or trauma or mental illness or graven
sin. There’s the opposite situation. When a pastor must speak up. To gently but
firmly admonish. To report. To ensure they’re duly diligent. Pastors need our
prayers to listen first and then to speak, and to discern to know when.
Pastors need us to pray for them that they would relate so well with their
Lord that they forgive well, especially themselves. We’re all more-or-less constantly
in error. It’s a dangerous person who refutes this. Pastors must model what it
is not only to be full of integrity, but brokenness. Indeed, that is their integrity. Tough-skinned, yet
soft-hearted pastors hold much redemptive power. But power can be used for both
good and evil. Abuse occurs where sin is apportioned one way only in relational
settings. The pastor can veto what should be discussed. The pastor who bears a
grudge or who doesn’t attend to what is toxic is not being an agent for
spiritual change he or she promised to be. We all need to be urged onward, and
prayer is a force to this end. Given the pressure on pastors, staying
soft-of-heart can be a major challenge.
Pastors need us to pray for their wellbeing — family, friends, finances.
Most pastor’s families go without in some way due to the work, and it’s rarely
compensated. This is not to say it’s not happening for most of society. But
with pastoral workers, there’s a burden borne inherent in the work. What about
their friendships. We ought to pray they have time and energy and wisdom to
maintain connection. And nobody ever got rich doing genuine pastoral work (mega
pastors who live luxuriously are not pastors in my view). Pastors need our
prayers for their ongoing wellbeing as they pour their lives out as a libation
continually.
What else do pastors need our
prayers for?
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