“Oh, it must be Easy”

I was talking to a buddy of mine a few days ago and we got on the topic of our careers. We discussed all the work he had been doing since we last saw each other a few years ago and he told me of the heavy work load and schedule he had to keep. He ranted and raved about the people he worked with and all the heavy lifting he did to keep his line running. Then, he turned to me and said, “Ministry huh? Must be nice being your own boss, not having a regular schedule, being paid salary and not having to deal with many people. Oh, it must be easy.” I had to hold back everything within me as I told him, “If you only knew the half of it.”

People are absolutely right about how easy it can be in the life of a minister. It is very easy to not want to get out of bed. It is easy to not want to get up at o-dark-thirty when you get a call from a congregation member. It is very easy to just leave this whole thing behind and pursue a secular job. It is very easy to say that we do not get paid enough to do half of what we are doing. It can be very easy but then we would not be ministers. There is a reason why ministers across denominations have a rather high suicide rate. The rate of ministers that retire as a minister is so low that it is shocking. People who love their ministry and what God is doing in the lives of others and their own seem to be giving it up after so many years. I have only been in ministry for a short amount of time but the reality of burn out and exhaustion is overwhelming at times. Ministers are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They may seem to be at home relaxing but in their heads is the next sermon or how a member of their congregation is doing. They are figuring out what they can do to help this family or how to get this child out of the situation they are in. This not including the stress of having to deal with sabotage or false accusations from members in the congregation. Ministers are tired.

Now, I understand that my friend may have been only half serious about his allegations when it comes to my job. However, know that your pastor(s) have a rough time. They do all they can and sometimes it does not seem like it is enough to you or to them. Know we are trying and that we need your prayers. This job is not easy and we know that. All we ask is that you remember that too.

https://www.pastoralcareinc.com/statistics/