30/10/2024
"IF YOU DON'T LIKE YOUR PASTOR OR MINISTRY"
Pastors don’t quit because they have a lack of faith in God. They don’t quit because they don’t believe in the calling God has placed on their life. Most don’t even quit because of financial reasons.
Pastors quit because they are overwhelmed with mental exhaustion, heart attack or even stroke, thus even didn't quit- died instead.
Until you are a Pastor you’ll never fully understand what it’s like to carry spiritual burdens for people getting up in the middle of night, praying for your family of faith, awakened in the middle of night with someone on your heart, overwhelmed with concern by a persons absence or distance.
His mind is continually occupied with the presentation of the upcoming Sunday message - how to preach it, what to teach on, how do we apply it?
He is getting critiqued on a continual basis, being told you need to do better or that some areas of the church simply need to be better.
PASTORS: invest their whole life into people and yet people will turn their backs on their pastor at the first sign of a storm, usually without a conversation.
PASTORS: stand in the middle of disputes.
PASTORS : stand in the middle of gossip.
PASTORS : counsel marital conflicts or broken marriages.
PASTORS : comfort those who have suffered loss.
PASTORS : navigate the waters of imperfect people with a desire to see each one thrive in their faith. They long for spiritual breakthroughs.
PASTOR : craves the very best for you. All of this, while trying to battle their own flesh and grow in their own relationship with God.
PASTORS : see the posts.
PASTORS : hear the whispers.
PASTORS endure the negativity.
PASTORS are continually caring for the sheep while fending off the wolves.
PASTORS : pour out and pour out - rarely being poured into.
What keeps a faithful Pastor going?
Primarily, his motivation not to quit comes from the love of Christ, the guarantee of our body’s resurrection and the day of reckoning at the Judgement Seat of Christ… 2 Cor. 5:1-21
Secondarily, it is YOU…
YOU - the person who is genuinely hungry.
YOU - the person who worships with passion and freedom. You - the teenager who is striving to be a follower of Jesus.
YOU - the single mom who understands the beauty of the hope found in Christ.
YOU - the one who walks through the door for the first time because you’re in search of peace, hope, and community.
Pray for your Pastor.
Pray for his wife.
Pray for his children.
Serve with your Pastor.
Talk with your Pastor.
Appreciate your Pastor.
Encourage your Pastor.
They are human.
They need you more than you think.
They need someone like you who will lift his arms for you to win the battles of life.
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Note: You will appreciate this topic on the book 'Holding Up Holy Hands' by Jim Binney
