Pastors Need Ministry Too!
Deniece and I have embarked on a new ministry of helping, encouraging, mentoring, and “being there” for pastors and their spouses. But why? We believe there is such a great need for this. So many pastors and their spouses suffer in silence under the weight of mental and emotional strain. This strain can begin to take its toll on your physical health, your marriage, your family, and your overall sanity!
While I am sure there are pastors that are thoroughly corrupt with evil motives, I believe this is rare! Most pastors are in the ministry to help people, to lead others to life-change in Jesus, to assist the needy, to comfort the afflicted, and to teach people God’s ways. They are there for their flock in life’s most difficult moments – through tragedy, catastrophe, disappointment, and yes, even death!
Pastors and their spouses literally pour their lives into other people’s lives. Deniece and I spent our entire adult life giving and pouring in to our church family. We spent 35 years there expending ridiculous amounts of energy into people and giving all that we had into trying to make the church a light for Jesus in Daytona Beach. We were not doing it for money, power, or fame. We honestly did not care at all about those things. We simply wanted to see people’s lives dramatically affected and changed by the power of Jesus! And we did! Repeatedly we saw God do great things that we could have never dreamed of or imagined.
But guess what else we experienced? A lot of tears, pain, hurts, disappointments, fears, failures, mistakes, people problems, family conflict, health issues, miscarriages, betrayals, mental and physical exhaustion, depression, church members leaving, staff members getting angry, personal struggles, and a constant feeling of a total inadequacy to do what we were doing!
I’m just being real! There’s far too much pretending in church life. There is an unrealistic expectation that pastors and their families have it all together and are exemplary in every way. This creates massive amounts of pressure on the pastor and his family. It also causes pastors and their families to hide their struggles and problems, which is extremely unhealthy. The pastor, his spouse, and his kids are fallen human beings with the same issues, struggles, and problems that every other person deals with.
A pastor is a person that probably has teaching and leadership gifts, but is also an imperfect person who does not possess all the spiritual gifts and will not excel in every area of life and ministry. The church is a body and the pastor is only one member of that body. And he needs the ministry of the body of Christ, just like every other believer does.
If you are a pastor reading this, make sure that you set systems and protections in place to ensure that you are receiving regular ministry from the body of Christ. We are also here to help you think through this! Reach out to us if you need help in any way or just need somebody to talk to. We do not want any pastor to feel like he has to lead alone.