death by ministry

[jjraby]

This is a scary and interesting article.

Death by Ministry - ChurchLeaders.com - Christian Leadership Blogs, Articles, Videos, How To's, and Free Resources


Read it and think about it. according to this. Ministers rank higher than munition workers as more risky to insure. The stats in this are scary too.. for example "80% of pastors say they have insufficient time with spouse and that ministry has a negative effect on their family."

very interesting..

 

[Pergamum]

Do you think the stats are true and do other studies exist that echo the percentages given?

This is very shocking.

 

[O'GodHowGreatThouArt]

Assuming those statistics are true, then many of the pastors have fallen into the false belief that the ministry is more important than the family.

The reality is that the converse is the case, and is vital in order to maintain biblical standards of eldership. If your family falls apart because of the ministry, then there can be great cause to believe that the ministry will either fall apart completely or go down the broad way.

These pastors are assigned to maintain a flock. If my pastor was among this group, I'd be asking why should I trust him to maintain a flock when he can't keep his own family in order.

It reminded me of one of Paul Washer's sermon, where he speaks briefly about the time when he was on a plane and the passenger next to him asked what he did for a living. Went along something like this:

Paul: "Well, I'm a husband."

Passenger: "Ok, what else?"

Paul: "I'm also a father. And if I have any time left over, I preach the Gospel a little."

The modern day version of that is:

"Well, I'm an evangelist. I'm also a minister. And if I have any time left over, I'm a husband and a father."

....and they wonder why the divorce rate among pastors is around 50%...

 

[Pergamum]

Is the divorce rate among pastors about 50%?

 

[O'GodHowGreatThouArt]

Is the divorce rate among pastors about 50%?

Based on the writer's research into his denomination in the above article, yes.

 

[LawrenceU]

I worked as the Exec. Director for a ministry that put me in touch with pastors from denominations across a wide spectrum. I would say that his numbers are fairly representative of what I saw. It doesn't surprise me one bit. It is a shame. We have made severe deviations from what the Scriptures teach regarding the nature and mission of the church and done the same thing regarding her leadership. That can't happen without serious repercussions.

 

[Pergamum]

Wow, that is scary. There are many ministers with very broken family lives here, but I thought it was a Third World thing and not a Western thing since pastors in the US so often appear well-dressed and well-spoken and often very polished.

 

[kvanlaan]

We saw this in China as well - missionaries' 'ministry' would ride roughshod over children and spouse and really make for some horrid situations. I like the Washer quote above.

 

[AThornquist]

Washer is very serious about making his wife his primary ministry. I've heard it over and over from him (you know, 'cause he tends to repeat himself). He has even said that if he were to go overseas and tell a missionary affiliated with HeartCry that there is an extremely serious matter to discuss, and if the missionary were to cancel a commitment he made to his wife or children to discuss the matter, Washer would see to it that the missionary would no longer be affiliated with HeartCry. Now, I'm not sure if Washer meant this literally, but in any case he made clear that wives and then children are the primary ministries of the man of God. I believe he's right, and his perspective has been very formative in my thinking about ministry.