Pastors today are faced with more work, more problems, and more stress than any other time in the history of the church. This is taking a frightening toll on the ministry, shown by the (North American) statistics below:--Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.
--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-five percent of pastors said their greatest problem is they are sick and tired of dealing with problem people, such as disgruntled elders, deacons, worship leaders, worship teams, board members, and associate pastors. Ninety percent said the hardest thing about ministry is dealing with uncooperative people.
So we can see that there are unique stresses that pastors have to deal with not to mention the attacks of the Devil. What can a church do to keep the pastor from resigning?
Here is my top 10 list:
10. Help him grow the church by inviting your friends to church. The growth of the church is your responsibility too.
9. Don’t be a party to gossip and strife in the church. It destroys him and the church.
8. Understand your pastor has feelings too, so don’t be critical.
7. Give him the benefit of doubt when he makes mistakes or misspeaks. You expect it when you do big pieces of stupid!
6. Forgive him quickly when he needs it. Forgive period!
5. Don’t allow yourself to become offended at him. Offence causes a breach in trust and destroys relationships.
4. Give your tithes of 10% or more faithfully every week. Pray for the finances of the church.
3. Don’t keep him poor, ‘to keep him humble.’
2. Edify and encourage him regularly. Love builds up! Encourage him to get rest!
1. Pray for him everyday!
4 comments:
May I add to this?
* Don't put Him on a pedestal in your heart. Period. I've seen this happen so often, then when the human side comes out the people are so disillusioned they feel betrayed. He is JUST LIKE YOU, but with more responsibility because God PUT HIM THERE.
* Spoil Him rotten if you can. No seriously. You see him eyeballing something you can afford to bless him with? Do it. People don't do it enough.
* Learn what true honor is and treat Him with it. Honor and respect go a long way. Without it... well... you both get hurt.
* Have his back. Really. If you hear anyone talking smack about him, the church, etc... don't just walk away but defend. Division is division and if you are in his flock, you need to protect him.
Come to think of it... don't just do this for your pastor. Do it for all your friends. But start with your pastor. His day is long enough.
The sad thing is, pastors are probably to humble to preach this message to their congregations. This is so true and so important for people to know. Maybe administrative pastors or worship pastors should preach it when the pastor is out of town? Hmmm.... And just in case I haven't said it, I think you're an awesome pastor. (Previous comment removed because of too many misspellings and grammatical errors.)
>ronni- great additions to the list, thank you very much.
>dwayne- do I know you- lol- thank you for the encouragement-
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