As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“We’ve all heard, and perhaps shared, these ‘staggering’ scary stats about pastors who leave the ministry every month. The truth is sometimes worse than myth, but fortunately not in this case.” - Facts & Trends
“For starters, there’s oversharing. We’re hardly meant, as ambassadors of Christ, to talk about ourselves all the time. Also, not everyone in the church needs to know about everything you struggle with.” - TGC
“While the following points can easily be applied to those outside of vocational pastoral ministry, I want to specifically address how the Imposter Syndrome is directly affecting the state of pastors today.” - C. Today
“Barna released research on Tuesday which found that 50 percent of surveyed pastors felt either ‘frequently’ or ‘occasionally’ limited in their ability to speak out on certain issues, with respondents being more likely to identify those within the church as the reason.” - CPost
“What leadership virtue are we mistaking bullying for? Which trait is such a priority that we aren’t even aware when it is deployed in an ungodly, and biblically prohibited, way? In short, why do we end up with bullies as prominent pastors?” - TGC
I remember several years ago when I first became aware that celebrity pastors live in a different world than ordinary pastors. They have staffs. They’re better paid. They often have fewer preaching responsibilities. They don’t have to clean the bathrooms. They probably don’t meet with the volunteer janitor on a Saturday morning to install LED bulbs above the platform, so the video livestream can capture a better picture. They’re well-meaning, but they live in a different world. A parallel universe.
“This time, the trial court … declared the housing allowance unconstitutional. This ruling has been appealed, and arguments are currently being made before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.” - GARBC.org
“Compensation for full-time Southern Baptist pastors and church staff has lagged behind the growth in the cost-of-living over the past two years. And health insurance coverage remains low, according to the 2018 SBC Church Compensation Study.” - BPNews
Amidst the unfolding homosexual, sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, it’s appropriate to consider the Roman Catholic position on the nature of pastoral ministry.
Discussion