Fellow Ministers,
If the saints are called to persevere, how much more the sheperds of the sheep? Ministry is one of the most soul wrenching vocations that a person can faithfully engage in. For the sake of editing, I aam presenting in this blog over the next several days a portion of a paper I have written for my course of training and education in Biblical Counseling. It is my hope that if you are strugling, your reading of the words within would stir your heart to press on. Should you desire to work through the homework that I have created to go along with this paper, you may email me at perseveringpastor@gmail.com
Being that society is quite fluent in psychological terms,
many surveyed ministers are being labeled with a worldly diagnosis. In the hope of resolving the sins of the
heart, as evidenced by these judgments, one needs to understand what the
definitions are and how they represent what is going on in the heart of the
minister. Many ministers may have
several symptoms of a shifted heart present at any given time. A principle in helping the minister is to
understand that these expressions are merely revelations of the heart condition
of a struggling saint. Once defined
properly by a biblical point of reference, one can put off the fleshly
complaint and put on a God-glorifying stewardship of true shepherding.
As demonstrated in the previous statistics, one common
term for pastoral failure in the ministry is burnout. Marshall Asher and Mary Asher in The Christian’s Guide to Psychological Terms
state, “The term burnout is a popular lay term to indicate the condition of
being bored, fatigued, frustrated, or disinterested in a particular activity.”[1] Psychologists attribute a low morale when it
comes to concerns for the ministerial office and burnout. This is exhibited by a lax attitude,
diminishing concern for results, and is often met with cynicism. The burned out pastor could easily be
described as critical of his church. It
is interesting to note that particular personalities may have a predisposition
to burnout. These would be those common
types of ministers who are idealistic and servant heart-oriented, or
perfectionistic, as well as those who may be authoritarian.
Surveys often indicate that depression is a repeated heart
attitude for the struggling minister. Asher
and Asher define depression as “a persistent mood that is characterized by
intense feelings of inadequacy, sadness, hopelessness, pessimism, irritability,
apprehension, and decreased interest in or ability to enjoy normal activity.”[2] Psychologists will attribute to depression other
symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, excessive sleeping, fatigue, as well as
feelings of worthlessness and guilt.
Research surveys found, “50% of ministers feel unable to meet the needs
of the job”[3]
and “seventy percent of ministers constantly fight depression.”[4]
Guilt is a term that some ministers use to describe their
feelings of failure. Though guilt has a
sense of carrying appropriate blame in cause and effect, guilt here is often a
mere feeling. Another term for this type
of guilt would be brooding. The Christian’s Guide to Psychological Terms
relates that “psychology defines guilt as a feeling: self-condemnation and/or
dread arising from the belief that one has committed an offense.”[5] The psychological realm sees guilt as a
complex result that is conditioned by many factors. These factors can be supposed as originating
in childhood, the values of others, and over self-evaluation. In the clinical
sense, guilt can be neurotic, producing fear and shame. In psychology it is handled as being a root
cause for many other disorders.
Many ministers will surmise that they believe their
efforts are fruitless, and they lack inspiration to try. Motivation is a key ingredient to any
decision-making process. Asher and Asher write that it is “the sum effect of all factors
that energize and direct behavior.”[6] The two dominant theories of what drives people
among hundreds are Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Self-Actualization
theories. These are taught in every
introduction to psychology class as to explain how people are influenced by
desires and perceived needs. Other
factors of motivation are goals, perceived value of return on investment,
rewards, pleasure or pain, safety and physical needs.
One critical influence in quitting the ministry would be
described by psychologists as low self-esteem.
Asher and Asher define the term as “a person’s belief regarding the
degree to which he is worthy of praise.”[7] The worldly description of self-esteem could
be stated as being steered by peer groups, one’s own perception of personal
value to any group or society, social status, economic influence, education,
personal achievements, possessions, and a host of other factors that may place oneself
in a pecking order in relation to those whom we deem as indicators of success.
Another word frequently occurring in a minister’s
description of their life is one of stress.
Stress is considered “anything that contributes to the production of
mental, emotional, or physical tension.
Psychologists also use the word to denote the resulting mental/emotional
tension itself.”[8] Thus stress is a reaction by means of
interpretation of our environment, situations, or potential outcomes. Psychologists rightly perceive stress as
having physical results of headaches, sleeplessness, and heart conditions, as
well as emotional results of anxiety, anger, depression, motivation, and
others. Stress is to be influenced
directly by relationships, expectations, commitments, health, and other factors
that a person deems of value to themselves.[9]
Though a desperate minister may not admit it, one aspect
that a counselor needs to probe for in helping this person is their anger with
the church. The anger may be extensive
enough that they are angry with God Himself.
Anger leads to division among the body and cannot be tolerated in the
life of a minister (1 Tim 3:1-13; Titus 1:7).
[1]Marshall
Asher and Mary Asher, The Christian’s
Guide to Psychological Terms (Bemidji, MN: Focus, 2004), 32.
[2]Ibid.,
56.
[3]H.
B. London and Neil Wiseman, Pastors at
Greater Risk (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2003), 20.
[4]Daniel
Sherman, “Pastors Leaving Ministry,” PastorBurnout.com [on-line]; accessed 3
May 2012; available from www.pastorburnout.com/pastors-leaving.html; Internet.
[5]Asher
and Asher, The Christian’s Guide, 79.
[6]Ibid.,
105.
[7]Ibid.,
175.
[8]Asher
and Asher, The Christian’s Guide,
191.
[9]Ibid.
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