What went wrong?
I used to be a successful guy who had his act together. I had a good academic background and was a part of great ministries both at home and overseas for over two decades. I had worked hard and generally got on with most people. I felt good about myself and what God had been able to do through me. So, why am I sitting here unhinged, sad, anxious and lost? It’s called burnout. It’s a world of pain that you wouldn’t wish on anyone or anything, except perhaps your neighbour’s cat. It hurts and has been hurting for a long time. The good news is that one day I will hopefully push through all of this and survive, but there are no guarantees. There is a chance that I may never be quite the same again. Regardless of the outcome of my journey, I would like to share some stuff with you about burnout in pastoral ministry. The fact that you are reading this book means that you may be a pastor in pain, or someone who really cares about their pastor or you may be someone hoping to get some tips on how to make your pastor’s life more difficult than it already is. Whatever your reasons for reading, I hope that my observations and thoughts will help you to come into my world just for a while and in doing so you will understand your pastor and the struggles that church leaders face in the 21st century just a little bit better. Most people that I have met in churches would say that they would never want to do my job as a pastor. They somehow realise that, while extremely rewarding, it is a stressful line of work. But what are the demands and aspects of the job that make it so stressful? In this book I would like to share with you a collection of concepts that, when put together, will hopefully give you a clear picture of the demands of pastoral ministry. I will mainly be drawing upon my experiences and the many conversations that I have had with pastors over my time in ministry. Although I believe completely in the value of empirical research and statistics, this book is not a research project. It’s just my stuff that I hope is on the money. As you read through you may find huge areas that I have not touched upon. No worries, just send the info through to me and I will include it in the sequel, “pastorpain 2 : still hurting”. Or perhaps I should write a prequel, “Before the pain”. Anyway, it will make for a good movie. I believe that the church is the most important organisation in the world. It is a worldwide family of people who have said “yes” to the greatest offer ever, the gift of purpose, forgiveness and eternal life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This grouping of people takes many shapes and forms in its expression but at the end of the day it is an integrated holistic body of disciples forming the “body of Christ”(1 Corinthians 12:27). In this body, all are equal and gifted to serve in the higher purpose of telling people about Jesus and living in a way that reflects well on God. Each disciple is called to be obedient to the leading of their Saviour and be His product placement in the world. Although no better than anyone else, some are called to be leaders in this huge project. They are called to lead God’s people and to mobilise the church for action. If we flick through the pages of the Bible we will soon see that it has never been an easy thing to be a leader in God’s family. No significant leader mentioned in the Bible ever had a smooth run. Sometimes they stuffed it up themselves, but for the most part throughout history, God’s leaders have struggled with the apathy, disobedience, sin, resistance to change and the lack of openness to His Spirit from His beloved little children. It’s not surprising to find today’s leaders struggling with the same barriers to growth. The church’s mission of sharing a message that can save someone from spending eternity in hell still has to rate as the most urgent and vital mission of all. Everything must be done to strengthen leaders in their calling and understand and remove barriers to this message being lived out and shared in our lost world. “Houston, we have a problem!”
To read the book, please click here
Reprinted with permission from the author, Steve Bagi.
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