Ministry, Money and Melancholy

"By this they will know that you are my disciples, that you have love for one another". - Jesus

Everyone is feeling the pinch, the financial belt tightening around the middle that causes severe heart burn and indigestion, but there is one group that feels it more profound than other professions: Ministers of the Word.

Before stimulus checks, bailouts and health bills, pastors across America had their faith stretched as they watched the weekly offering plates come in lighter and lighter each week. It was like a barometer, but before the economic crisis ever started, few realize that money issues were to come in second to the prevailing struggle of ministers: melancholy, or its big sister, “Depression”.

In an article written by Rich Murphy, “Bad News About Your Pastor”, Murphy gathers statistics and findings from such sources as: Pastor to Pastor, Focus on the Family, Ministries Today, Charisma Magazine, TNT Ministries, Campus Crusade for Christ and the Global Pastors Network. The statistics are shocking:

- 1,500 pastors leave the ministry each month due to spiritual burnout, contention in their churches or moral failure.

- 4,000 new churches begin each year, while over 7,000 churches close.

- 50% of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.

- 80% of pastors and 84% percent of their spouses feel unqualified and seriously discouraged.

- 90% said the hardest thing about ministry is dealing with uncooperative people.

- 80% of pastor' wives feel left out and unappreciated by the church members.

- Over 70% of pastors' wives feel pressured to “be” something to the church that they aren’t.

Although pastors are surrounded by a body of other believers, the majority of them have a difficult time finding a 'brother' among the crowd. They feel isolated on a personal level as they have learned to keep their private struggles private. They've learned that if they share too much, there will be someone there to point, accuse and opine on what ‘the pastor’ should or shouldn’t be doing … or allowing… or pursuing… or preaching… or….

This isolation is the first sign the enemy waits for as his personal invitation to attack, and he is faithful in that. If a believer that works at K-mart falls, it irritates the church, but if a pastor falls, it devastates whole families and communities. The message to the church should be, serve the Lord and not the enemy. Be careful not to let those things that Paul speaks of, those things that the first churches struggled with, be wedged in your body: quarreling, gossiping, judging one another, etc. These are the tools of the enemy.

Don’t let your Pastor become another statistic, Love your pastor by:

1. Praying for Him, consistently;

2. Respect his spiritual leadership;

3. Treat him as one called by God, not as your ‘employee’;

4. Allow GOD to define his ministry, not the Board or group of ‘concerned’ members; and

5. Commit yourself personally to being a 'safe' person for him, keeping confidentiality and trust before the throne of Christ. Be his brother, not his judge.