The Delima of Being a Pastor.
Should the calling of a pastor subject him to such personal pain that he would abandon his calling, his family and in to many cases life itself?
Jesus said, "my yoke is easy and my burden is light". Why do so many pastor's feel His yoke is hard and His burden is heavy? Some have been told by their hierarchy that it goes with the "job". Maybe it is the way it is because we have relegated it to being a "job" "a professional position" that man a boss places people in, rather than it being a calling that Jesus places people in who is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The religious institutional creation of the "job" of pastor creates the perfect environment for disillusionment, despair and depression that in some cases has led to the unthinkable, that of taking their own lives.
Religion has created such a high profile, high stressed job with almost unattainable goals and expectations for success that often sends one down the slippery slope of dis-satisfaction and depression because it is so far removed from the call of God as to what a pastor is and does.
Pastoral councilors, have reported that 25% of pastors live in depression at one time or another, that doesn't include the ones who endure the pain of depression alone because of the stigma attached to it and the number of the religious "laity" that suffer depression is a staggering statistic. If you want to get a perspective to the magnitude of the enormity of this problem, ask the pastor's wife. The gospel according to the pastor could be far different than the gospel according to the pastor's wife.
In the religiously created position it is nigh impossible to admit one's humanity, a job that breeds isolation and loneliness that seminary learning does not prepare them for. They are not to show their human side with its failings to the "laity", they are to dawn the spiritual cover-up to shield their humanity from the sinning "laity" that they are spiritual seer's over, because of the expectation that they are to be Jesus to them.
I have been accused on more than one occasion by the same people over and over, to whom I have explained their faulty assumption of my lumping all pastors into the same stew of hogwash, because of my outspokenness on the "job" and "position", of the man-instituted and the man-placement of people to the positional office of pastor. It matters not how many times I tell them that the positional office that pastor fills is the object of my outspokenness, not the person filling the office. It is not the person that is ungodly but the job position of the office itself.
Yes there are some hirelings, wolves in sheep's clothing, tares that are planted by Satan to deceive and plunder the people of God. But the vast majority of people I know and I assume the vast majority that I don't know, are creditable conscientious people who got into the "job" for no other reason than to fulfill what they deemed to be the call of God on their lives and to make a positive difference in people's lives by helping them to mature and grow in Christ. They were sincere, honest people who knew of no other way to fulfill the calling than to enter the religious deception of the pastoral office in the "job" of pastor.
They are to be on call 24 hours a day, ready at any given moment to satisfy a beckon call. Then their success is validated by the number of salvations, the growth of the number of people in the congregation, the number of baptisms performed and the amount of monies they can bring into the churches coffers. Seeking council ling for marital problems, depression problems, addiction problems comes at a high price for professional pastors, it is a sign of weakness and failure. The hierarchy fails to admit that the demand of excellence and expectations placed on the pastor by religion is the a big part of the problem especially if your problem becomes public and you have to take time off. This leads a lot of pastors having to hide their humanity side and to live a deceitful life in front of people.
Jesus said, "my yoke is easy and my burden is light". Why do so many pastor's feel His yoke is hard and His burden is heavy? Some have been told by their hierarchy that it goes with the "job". Maybe it is the way it is because we have relegated it to being a "job" "a professional position" that man a boss places people in, rather than it being a calling that Jesus places people in who is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The religious institutional creation of the "job" of pastor creates the perfect environment for disillusionment, despair and depression that in some cases has led to the unthinkable, that of taking their own lives.
Religion has created such a high profile, high stressed job with almost unattainable goals and expectations for success that often sends one down the slippery slope of dis-satisfaction and depression because it is so far removed from the call of God as to what a pastor is and does.
Pastoral councilors, have reported that 25% of pastors live in depression at one time or another, that doesn't include the ones who endure the pain of depression alone because of the stigma attached to it and the number of the religious "laity" that suffer depression is a staggering statistic. If you want to get a perspective to the magnitude of the enormity of this problem, ask the pastor's wife. The gospel according to the pastor could be far different than the gospel according to the pastor's wife.
In the religiously created position it is nigh impossible to admit one's humanity, a job that breeds isolation and loneliness that seminary learning does not prepare them for. They are not to show their human side with its failings to the "laity", they are to dawn the spiritual cover-up to shield their humanity from the sinning "laity" that they are spiritual seer's over, because of the expectation that they are to be Jesus to them.
I have been accused on more than one occasion by the same people over and over, to whom I have explained their faulty assumption of my lumping all pastors into the same stew of hogwash, because of my outspokenness on the "job" and "position", of the man-instituted and the man-placement of people to the positional office of pastor. It matters not how many times I tell them that the positional office that pastor fills is the object of my outspokenness, not the person filling the office. It is not the person that is ungodly but the job position of the office itself.
Yes there are some hirelings, wolves in sheep's clothing, tares that are planted by Satan to deceive and plunder the people of God. But the vast majority of people I know and I assume the vast majority that I don't know, are creditable conscientious people who got into the "job" for no other reason than to fulfill what they deemed to be the call of God on their lives and to make a positive difference in people's lives by helping them to mature and grow in Christ. They were sincere, honest people who knew of no other way to fulfill the calling than to enter the religious deception of the pastoral office in the "job" of pastor.
They are to be on call 24 hours a day, ready at any given moment to satisfy a beckon call. Then their success is validated by the number of salvations, the growth of the number of people in the congregation, the number of baptisms performed and the amount of monies they can bring into the churches coffers. Seeking council ling for marital problems, depression problems, addiction problems comes at a high price for professional pastors, it is a sign of weakness and failure. The hierarchy fails to admit that the demand of excellence and expectations placed on the pastor by religion is the a big part of the problem especially if your problem becomes public and you have to take time off. This leads a lot of pastors having to hide their humanity side and to live a deceitful life in front of people.
This pastor role is so far removed from the pastor function that God calls one to!
Your service to the demands of religion trumps the needs of everything that goes on in the pastor's home. And the thought of this and why more wives don't upset the horse-cart is the belief that the pastor is doing this for God and he is giving God first place in his life.
The first bit of advice a rookie pastor got from a professional pastor in ministry was..."this is a lonely life, you cannot have friends here. If you have a friend in this congregation other people will become jealous and your ministry here will be destroyed. As long as you have a good sermon prepared and preach with charisma and be at people's bedside when needed you will make out OK"! Your home life and your needs are secondary to the work of the ministry".
Most pastors are not horrible, scummy, deliberate deceiving people out to deceive the Body of Christ from its true function and reality. They went into the job with the right heart and attitude but, the religious system design falls far short of God's ideal of being a pastor and the accepted role of a pastor is religiously controlled rather than spiritually enlivened with the life of God under the headship of Christ.
Religion believes the pastor job is to manage the religious machinery in order to keep the wheels of performance wheeling. There are times when that machine seems to be a good machine, but what they don't realize is, religion is a machine that will eat you alive and come back to lick the bones. These sincere people are living in the delusional lie of Satan without knowing it
Again I will iterate, when I talk about pastors or others offices in the institutional churches, I am not talking about the people who fulfill the roles, but the religious system that creates the positions and the lob descriptions for the openings to be filled. The specific men and women who are priests, ministers, and pastors are, on the whole, wonderful people. They love God, want to serve God, and want to serve the people of God but end up serving religion. They typically are sincere, compassionate, intelligent, self-giving, and long-suffering. Let it be clear, then, that the problem with pastors is not the people who are pastors but the profession that those people are a part of.
Without a doubt, the pastor's job has been reduced to a profession and its members are professionals. Just as lawyers protect and interpret the law and doctors protect and administrate medicine, clergy protect, interpret, and administrate the truth of God. This profession, like any profession, dictates standards of conduct for how its members should dress, speak, and act, both on-duty and off-duty. And, like other professions, it dictates standards of education, preparation, admittance to the profession, procedures for job searches and applications, and retirement.
Again this is a far cry from the God appointed, God empowered, God sanctioned, God anointed, God ordained call to be privileged to SERVE His Body in the function of pastor.
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