The Other Side Of The Coin

I got this from Mark Driscoll's blog (Link on the left):

"2. How healthy are pastors and their families?

At our 2006 Reform and Resurge Conference in Seattle, my good friend Pastor Darrin Patrick from The Journey in Saint Louis (www.journeyon.net) spoke frankly of the burden that pastoral ministry is. He presented the following statistics, which he gathered from such organizations as Barna (www.barna.org) and Focus on the Family (www.family.org).

Pastors

Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
Fifty percent of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.
Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.
Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.
Pastors' Wives

Eighty percent of pastors' spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
Eighty percent of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
The majority of pastors’ wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry."

Just in case any of you stumble across this information or stuff like it...

I want to let all of you know that there are some of us out there in ministry who are enjoying our walk with Christ.
Some of us are actually kind of energized about what God is doing in our midst.
We are enjoying seeing what God is doing in the lives of individuals and how that looks as a congregational family.
While we know we're all "unqualified" in some sense, we don't mind letting Christ do what it is He does in and through us.
We aren't planning on leaving the ministry anytime soon. Anytime at all, for that matter. And, newsflash: Most of the people I work with would make any company doing anything a better place--they're very bright and gifted.
Some of us envision being in our current role more than 5 or more years. There's plenty of work to be done.
Some of us aren't battling depression at all...much less constantly fight it.
Some of us really enjoy the wife of our youth and married her because she was the coolest girl we ever met and we still think so and we really do love her and plan on sticking to those vows we made some 19 years ago.
Some of us are grabbing our copy of The Message and having a cup of coffee in the hammock or in our favorite chair and simply allowing the Word to breathe life into us. We prepare for classes at our desk at work.

And, frankly, I don't know of a wife who doesn't feel like her husband is overworked. And vice-versa...we feel our spouses are overworked. So, I'm not sure that statistic isn't a bit skewed to begin with.
And, if my wife wanted me to have another profession, she hasn't mentioned it. In fact, when times were lean earlier in youth ministry and I talk about getting another job, she'd talk me out of it. "Right. And have you miserable just so we can have a few dollars here and again? No, thanks. You were wired by God to do this, so why don't we trust Him and see what happens?" She's the kind of girl who would bring it up if she really wanted me out of this.
And some of us think that ministry in our life together, which spilled and flooded our home, has only added to the abundance of life we're already experiencing.

So, in conclusion...to those who are somewhere in the statistics quoted above: I simply want to encourage you a little bit, let you know that I'm concerned for you. I've been in some of those places and know it can seem dark and you can get discouraged. Seek Him, okay?

To those of you reading: Just wanted to let you know that some of us are still having a ball (personally and professionally) and can't believe we get paid to walk with Christ. We recognize that we lead a charmed life.

And we're thankful to be where we are, doing what were doing, with people we love doing it with.

Just letting you know.