So I like to read different Christian news sites. I came across this article this morning “Pastors experiencing more loneliness, less support is a 'cause for concern,' Barna warns” Yes, it’s concerning and a lot of us live it. You can read the article here:
What I find fascinating now (It used to bother me) is the majority of people who attend church have no desire to talk about spiritual things. I have a lot of friends in the pastorate and they will tell you the same. I think that fuels the loneliness to some degree - though I can only speak for me.
As far as support goes, sometimes I feel that and sometimes I don’t. Nowadays I just plainly make myself available to whoever needs me. Whether that be a church goer or another pastor or one of my friends. It’s all I know to do now.
Authenticity has never been really popular in the Southern Baptist Church, I always refer back to the Casting Crowns song: “Stained Glass Masquerade”. It’s simply the truth. We show up and fake it for awhile and then go home. Here is the lyric video, am I wrong?
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I’m sure there are plenty of pastors who have great churches and there are plenty of pastors who lie about their churches. Few are honest about their church.
If we’re honest, a lot of the loneliness stems from lack or real relationships in the church. We’re happy plastic people.
And we’re okay with it.
That is why I do what I do...
Talking about spiritual matters is so important and it is easy to feel lonely when the only thing congregants want to talk about is sports or the weather.