Occupational Hazards of Ministry
Every job has particular occupational hazards. Some are obvious: electrician – electrocution, roofer – falling, stenographer – carpal tunnel syndrome. Most occupational hazards are physical, but there are plenty of mental or emotional ones as well. For many healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic it was burnout, exhaustion and sometimes trauma. Some are more subtle; many become doctors because of a genuine desire to care for others, but ten years in are jaded after spending more time and energy on paperwork and legal worries than on helping the sick.
What do you think are some of the occupational hazards for pastors? While there have probably been a few back injuries from carrying around thick theology books, the occupational hazards for pastors are different. Perhaps you think of moral failures, which have taken a number of pastors out of ministry. But would it surprise you to know one of the top occupational hazards for pastors is spiritual health?
A few weeks ago, Pastor Wes and I, along with our wives, attended a short retreat in Bear Lake for Utah pastors in our denomination. Jon Medlock, a fellow pastor and the PCA’s Director of Ministerial Relief, led it. He’s leading a research study on how pastors in our denomination are doing. In his study, 70% of pastors stated that the “demands of ministry challenge or considerably inhibit spiritual growth.” For many this is shocking and seemingly backwards. If your job is to study the Bible, how can it inhibit your spiritual growth?
I think a number of things lead to this. Pastors get a front row seat to the suffering and depth of sin in people’s lives. Change is depressingly slow, and sometimes seems nonexistent. This can certainly take a toll on your soul. Like doctors, pastors often experience something of a shock when they discover how much of their time is spent in administration and other activities not related to their training.
But one more reason, and this is the one I’ve felt the most, is that slowly over time, you become a professional. What I mean is you gain the skills for succeeding in ministry. You know the passages that will help the struggling couple, you’re pretty good at leading a Bible study or teaching a class, and you’ve got sermon writing down to a science. And when you're in this place, it’s so easy for your heart to slip away, or at least take six steps back. To put it crassly, it’s really easy to put on a performance.
I’m sure many of you have had the experience where you really enjoyed something as a side hobby, but when it became a commitment its joy started to wane. When it’s your job, it’s no longer a life-giving hobby. I’ve found it to be similar in ministry; I remember the joy and nervousness of writing the first sermon in a new place. But after the 300th sermon it’s easy for it to feel more a duty than a delight.
On one hand, this is nothing unique; it’s really hard–if not impossible–to maintain the delight of starting your dream job six years in. There is a good discipline in continuing to show up, even when you don’t feel like it. And yet, what is unique to ministry is that the work is so connected to your own spiritual health that the impacts of spending too much time in duty instead of delight can have widespread effects.
This newsletter is my first bit of writing on my preaching sabbatical–I thought it would be good to begin by letting you know how to pray for me (and all our pastors). I didn’t write this as a veiled call for help regarding my own spiritual state, but I did write it because I’ve felt more of this struggle in the past couple years. As I mentioned last month, one of my goals in taking this time off from the weekly demands of preaching is to provide refreshment and reviatalitization to my mind and heart – to help me feel a bit less like a professional preacher. I wrote this to help you better understand some of the particular and unseen challenges of ministry so you can better care for your pastors and elders.
I’m deeply thankful for all of you, and the support and encouragement you’ve shown me–even in these past few days, a number of you have reached out to say you're praying for me. I’m thankful that God is faithful, even when we are not, and I trust that he will revive the soul of anyone who humbly comes before him.
In Christ,
Pastor Jon