Give Your Pastor a Break

Many veteran pastors would agree that ministry now is much harder than it used to be. The added stressors are not because they have been trying to respond to the ever-changing logistical and technological needs of the modern church. Instead, it is the constant frustrations of trying to figure out how to respond with grace to the preferential demands from us as church members without completely derailing the mission of our church. Even when our pastors pray faithfully and seek wise counsel regularly, they still get beat-up from one side or the other and sometimes even both sides at the same time.

Pastors are and should be held accountable to God and their churches for decisions they make and initiatives they propose. So, wouldn’t it seem only right and fair that we as church members should also be held accountable for how we respond to those decisions and initiatives? Maybe some of the following suggestions could help us help our pastors thrive instead of contributing to their stress.

·      Before labeling every decision our pastors make as nefarious or politically motivated, we should pray through those decisions as diligently as they have.

·      We should stop expecting our pastors to preach our politics. When they mix politics with their preaching, we’ll get politics every time.

·      Give them the benefit of the doubt. These are the same pastors we previously trusted to bless our marriages, baptize our children, and bury our parents.

·      Give them a break. They are busier now than they’ve ever been before, so we need to make it easier for them to have some margin.

·      We should defend our pastors even though we might not agree with every decision they make.

·      Seminary didn’t prepare them for this kind of ministry. So, as they are trying to figure it out, we should give them grace when they don’t get it right every time.

·      Pastors need adequate study and preparation time to accurately present the Word of God each week. If we are filling their time trying to mollify us, then how can we not expect their sermon preparation and presentation to suffer?

·      If we do have valid concerns with their decisions or directions, then we should talk to our pastors instead of about or around them.

·      Our pastors faithfully offer emotional, spiritual, and relational encouragement to us. Have we offered the same to them? If we haven’t, then who will?

Phillip Yancey wrote, I wonder how much more effective our churches would be if we made the pastors spiritual health, not their efficiency our number one priority?