When I became a “Senior Pastor” I fell head first into the lie of “You have to be available at all times for whatever may happen.” I actually had church members tell me “Now you know that when you go on vacation you have to come back if something happens.” How can I relax on vacation and enjoy time off with my family when I’m reminded every time I go on vacation that I’ll have to come back? So I missed trips to the beach and to the lake, I neglected my family for the sake of the “church”. And I truly believed that this is what God wanted. And years later we have payed the price, maybe one day I’ll sit down and write about that. I’m sure there are plenty of pastors who resonate with what I am saying.
Pastors, find a hobby and pursue it. Do not neglect your own soul at the expense of someone who does not and will not care about you. I have recently taken up photography. I love to sit outside and just breathe in the beauty of God’s creation and photograph it. I do it because it brings me peace. I do it because I have time to pray for others, to meditate on the upcoming message, to listen to my Bible app. I love that I can sit there and confess my sin before God. I pray for our church, the spiritual health of our church. It uplifts me to be able to sit in peace and do that.
I love aerial photography, basically anything that comes across my little slice of sky I will photograph it. My favorite but also the hardest is a helicopter, because they are moving!
As you can see, they are hard to photograph. So pastors, please stop bending over backwards for abusive church members. Find a hobby that brings you peace and pursue it, take your vacation and turn your phone off. I mean, deacons have to do something right?
Remember: you cannot heal the sick or raise the dead… only televangelists can do that… So make sure to take the time off that you deserve.
I'm a Climbing Arborist by trade. If I didn't have that once a week getaway in the trees with my crew, I can't imagine I could be ok the rest of the week of ministry...
I’m sure a lot of other Pastors can relate. I used to be in ministry and burned myself and my family out by sacrificing our time together, our livelihood and even our financial well-being at the expense of a corrupt church/cult, who we later found out, only wanted us there for our money and muscle. They didn’t care for our souls one bit, and I, at the time, didn’t care nearly enough about myself, my wife or my family and even now we’re still suffering some of the consequences of our “misplaced sacrifices” for the church. So yes, please take time to care for yourself, this is very important! Do something that you enjoy and that brings you peace! You will not be any good to anyone else as a minister if you don’t! It’s not being selfish. Sometimes I think Pastor’s feel that they have to sacrifice every aspect of their life for the church or they will be judged by the church. This is not healthy for an individual to be subjected to nor is it God’s standard. I’ve heard so many out-of-context sermons preached on how we’re all to “sacrifice” our lives for the church and so on. Yeah, you’ll sacrifice alright… you may lose your home, your family, your marriage could end in divorce and your health/mental health may be compromised. So much is at stake, to simply not make time for your own well-being. Please take this message seriously!