Not All Clergy Are Equal
While I see my main calling in these last few years as seeking ways to assist clergy, I also admit that not all clergy have behaved in admirable ways. One of the reasons that I have included in my three volumes of short stories, Clergy Tales–Tails, stories of clergy who have succumbed to temptations in their ministry is that I believe that when we understand the temptations of ministry, we are better able to resist such temptations. amzn.to/13VO446 .
Not All Self-Care Is Good
Because of the many examples of clergy burnout and emotional breakdown in the ministry, many seminaries have emphasized self-care in their training. That, together with an increasingly narcissistic culture, have resulted in some clergy emphasizing self-care to the detriment of their ministerial effectiveness. In addition, some clergy have grown lazy and have developed a style of ministry that requires a minimal amount of work. To be a healthy ineffective clergy is not a whole lot better than being an exhausted ineffective clergy. At some point we need to find a balance between self-care and self-indulgence at the expense of the reason we were called in the first place. Ministry is more than a job to provide us economic resources by which we can survive.
Called By God and Hired By A Congregation
A major distinction needs to be made between meeting all the demands of a congregation and responding to the call of God in our ministry. I know it is not easy to define God’s call in our lives. It is possible, however, that what God asks us to do may be exhausting and demanding of long hours at work. What drives me to distraction, however, are the petty demands of some individual members that seem to have nothing to do with what God is asking of me.
My guess is that many clergy develop bad habits of eating, drinking, lack of exercise, or even more extreme practices that endanger them due to trying to meet the expectations of members than in trying to meet the expectations of God. If God asks us to accept a demanding task, at least it feels ennobling. If a member criticizes us for not making enough visits on prospective new members or not attending the church school class party, it simply feels demeaning. You may even want to do such things, but there are times that you need to draw a line for the sake of your healthy ministry.
