In a recent issue of Presbyterian Outlook, (November 23,2009), there was an article that was almost a screed against the idea of emphasizing pastoral self-care. The essence of the rant was that it is mutually contradictory to respond to God’s call to take up our cross and to also focus on taking care of ourselves. One of his phrases that caught my attention was, “no matter how we slice it, there is often a fine line between insanity and following Jesus Christ.”
While I think the author has made a questionable assumption that Jesus willingness to face the cross and our commitment to be faithful to the call even when it costs us dearly requires us to reject a psychologically healthy life, I do think that in the midst of his tirade, he raises an interesting point. The core of ministry is a willingness to be a servant even as Jesus was a servant to others. Such service comes at a cost to our own comfort and pleasure. When we focus on self-care, it is not an invitation to draw boundaries that exclude our responsiveness to the needs of our neighbor. Faithfully responding to God’s call to ministry does require us to be other centered.
Yet I would suggest that there are healthy and unhealthy ways to do that. Jesus did take time out of a busy, demanding ministry, to be in touch with the God who called him. When he invited his disciples to come away and rest, it was not because all of the needs of others had been met but that a good caregiver addresses the needs of others best when s/he also recognizes the need for self-care. To use a practical example, how many of you would like to be operated on by a surgeon who has been up 24 hours without a break?
I know of pastors who are so focused on protecting themselves with their carefully constructed boundaries that they appear unreachable by their congregants. But I also know of pastors who are so strung out by their exhausting schedule that their response to their congregants comes from an unhealthy place. It is often such pastors who succumb to inappropriate temptations or are so filled with anger that they fail to offer compassionate ministry. We can do better than that.
