Being a pastor

For the majority of us, we don't understand how hard it is to be a pastor.

It's like not knowing the unique internal struggles of having children. I remember for years people always saying, "You can't really know the challenges to have children till you have them." I was always so frustrated because I knew I could listen and bear the burden with others who had children. And that is still true - we listen and immerse ourselves in stories of parenthood and we understand better.

But there is something about not being able to know some of the unique challenges until you are immersed in the experience of having children.

It's very similar with being a pastor. We can bear the burden, share the vision, play our part, but being a pastor is unique and challenging in unique ways.

Take the time to read these things listed from the post "Death by Ministry" from Mark Driscoll. They are interesting and very poignant.

Then take the time to pray for your leaders and leadership team. Those that pastor you, and pray for you, and do things for you when you don't even know about.

If we want leaders, each other, and our church to live effectively in the Kingdom of God, we must love God, love others, and pray for one another.

Pastors

• Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
• Fifty percent of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.
• Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
• Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
• Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
• Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.
• Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
• Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.

Pastors' Wives

• Eighty percent of pastors' spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
• Eighty percent of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
• The majority of pastors’ wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.