One lesson that comes to mind first and foremost that I did not learn in seminary is a lesson in the taxation and burden of ministry life.  Now we had plenty of talks about this in seminary – I remember back in Bible college my preaching practicum professor, Dick Fellers, always told us that “Sundays come with awesome regularity!”  But as students in seminary we were trained to endure under the burden of preaching, the mental fatigue of laboring in languages, and the fluidity necessary for dealing with a whole host of very different issues in the matter of only a week’s time period.  But what they did not train us for was the burden of leading people.  Churches are often hard on their pastors; some churches are even known as being “pastor eaters”!  Some are harder than others (I like to think that mine is one of the more gracious ones!), but even some of the most easy churches to lead can put an extra level of burden on their pastors!

I say that seminary did not train me for this, but that is only true in a sense.  In one way, our professors have trained us greatly for this.  We have heard professors, lectures, and guest speakers alike talk about the broken relationships, we have seen the scars, heard of church splits over the silliest of issues, and felt the heartache of men who have tried to lead yet nobody would follow.  We have seen men stabbed in the back by other ministry leaders in the church and have felt the heartache in words that the Apostle James writes–my brethren, these things ought not so to be!  What seminary could never convey or communicate to us adequately is the actual feel of that burden.  To stand up in front of a group of people and pour your heart out week after week only to have people fight with you, leave you, or gossip about you is something that one can only know by experience!  Unfortunately, along with the great privilege of ministry there is often great pain.  Ministry hurts!  I remember one of my pastoral mentors telling us that “ministry is not for the faint of heart!”  They can say these things in the classroom, but one never really truly understands until you live it.  I remember axioms that they used to tell us – like “pastors need to have thick skin and a tender heart.”  While that is great advice, there is no skin on earth thick enough to withstand the dagger when an individual wants to stick it in deep and twist it around!

So, what do we do with all of this?  If you are a pastor, just starting in ministry, or preparing for ministry, recognize the burden of the ministry God calls you to.  Yes, there are joys, and there are many of them!  Nothing can compare to the privilege of watching or leading people to take the next steps on their journey of faith!  But be prepared, because ministry is often a bumpy path.  You need to remember that God is your portion.  Remember in the Old Testament when God divided up the land between the tribes of Israel?  Do you remember which tribe did not get land?  Levi.  Why?  Because the Levites were the priestly tribe and God was their portion.  Their privilege and calling was to find their reward in giving themselves in service to God.  Pastors also have this reward!  Also remember that ultimately, our reward does not come on this earth and in this life.  Spiritual service will be rewarded with spiritual rewards, and we have that to look forward to!

If you are a church member, think twice before giving your pastor “both barrels.”  If you are intending to critique, criticize, or complain, keep in mind that you are probably not the first person with an agenda who came into your pastor’s office, or worse yet, appeared in his inbox, that week and you will likely not be the last.  Is it really worth destroying the confidence, energy, and passion of a man all to just get things your way?  Would you take joy in knowing that you were a tool that Satan used to cause a man to bail in ministry and transfer his duties to another church or even leave ministry altogether?  The “ministry graveyard” is full of men who left ministry all too early because they had the “wind sucked out of their sails” one too many times by people who forgot the words of I Thessalonians 5:11–Encourage one another and build one another up.  We need to remember that pastors are human too!  Yes they sin and they are certainly not perfect, but in their humanity they also feel the real weight of their ministry!  They feel the pain of those who oppose them and want to criticize, and the burden of certain people who just seem to suck up so much time in pushing their own agenda.  Second, make sure you pray for your pastor.  Pray for endurance, pray for joy filled times in the Word, and pray a Hebrews 13:7 type of prayer–that the church would Obey [their] leaders and submit to them—for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they may do this with joy, not groaning; for this would be unhelpful for you.  Pray that your pastor would have the type of ministry that brings him joy and not the groaning this passage talks about!  Last, remember that the church is not about getting what you want.  We live in such an individualistic society that shapes us to only think about us and our own desires.  Many of the issues pastors deal with are just people pursuing their own personal happiness.  But the church is not about that!  The church is about people with a common bond pursuing a common goal, and the pastor is responsible before God to lead them toward that goal!  Remember that as you pray for your pastor, and find a way to encourage him in his ministry!  Thank him for his ministry of the Word and show tangible ways that you have grown through his labor in the Word.

In conclusion, pastoral ministry truly is not for the faint of heart!  Pastors need to be prepared!  But church members and attenders also need to do their part to ensure the health of their pastor and thus the health of their ministry.  They do this by praying for their pastor, committing to follow his leadership and not criticize his ministry if they do not agree, not pushing their own preferences, relieving him of ministry burdens when they can so he can focus on his ministry in the Word, and giving him adequate vacation and time away from the ministry so that he can minister to himself and his family.  Churches are all in this together!  The entire congregation fails if a pastor burns out or leaves due to the burden of people who want to fight with their shepherd.  But congregations move together in unity and fruitfulness when they recognize the leadership of the man God has placed as their shepherd and they joyfully work alongside of him for the good of the flock and glory of Christ!