This is a word to my brothers in Christ who share the privilege of serving as a pastor. It is a reaction to some extreme positions I see taken, which, I believe, are themselves reactionary.
Some portray the ministry as nothing but woe. The reaction is to dismiss any trouble in ministry and paint an unrealistic picture of happy service.
Some portray the ministry as nothing but ease. The reaction is to dismiss any joy in serving the Lord as an unrealistic aspiration.
Both are wrong.
The ministry will hurt at times. If it doesn’t, something’s wrong. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul lists a series of physical sufferings he endured as he served the Lord. In verses 28-29 he adds the spiritual and emotional burdens of serving the Lord,
“(28) Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. (29) Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?”
But the ministry is also a privileged joy. If there’s no joy in serving, there’s something wrong. In Acts 20:24, Paul spoke of the joy of ministry,
“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”
Hurt is inevitable, to a greater or lesser degree. The degree of hurt will vary by individual, ministry type, and age and stage of ministry.
The people who hurt us most are the ones we love the most. If you’re never hurt as a pastor, I wonder if you’ve ever loved someone.
The people who weigh heaviest on my heart are the ones I carry. If you’re never weighed down as a pastor, then are you carrying anyone?
However, if you love in your own strength, you will quickly lose your love and become bitter or indifferent.
If you collapse routinely or completely, then you’re not relying on God’s strength to help you help others.
If you portray the ministry as only joy, then others who surrender to serve will not be prepared for the difficulties. Other pastors will wonder what they’re doing wrong if other pastors are floating by on flowery beds of ease, and yet they’re in the trenches, wounded.
Conversely, if you portray the ministry as only sorrow, then that will discourage your church. What are they to think if they feel like you are only ever disappointed and inconvenienced by them?
Others will be discouraged from surrendering to the ministry.
Both types tend to ostracize others.
The perpetually optimistic who dismiss the wounds others bear cannot minister to wounded brethren. There are men I will not ask for prayer or counsel because, by their own testimony, they don’t know what it is to be hurt or struggle to carry a burden. It may be true for them or it might be a show they put on, but either way, they can’t help me.
But the perpetually discouraged cannot teach others to walk joyfully through the shadows when they come or look for the light that is there. There are men like this that I don’t believe can help me. They can sympathize with my struggle, but they are anchored in their woes. Struggles are a necessary place to visit, but not where we should make our dwelling place.
As with so much, there must be balance. We must admit both the joys and struggles of ministry. We overlook or ignore either to our own peril.
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