It’s been said numerous times, but it seems as though it is beneficial to repeat: being a pastor is neither an easy nor a safe calling. Despite the jokes about only working for about 3o minutes a week (I suppose I’m an overachiever!) and spending lots of time on the golf course (I’ve played exactly three rounds in the last five years), the work of a pastor occurs at every hour and on every day. Though they will rarely talk about it, pastors’ minds are often on the flock they have been called to oversee and lead, even to the point of being awakened in the middle of the night (which often leads to sweet moments of prayer for those congregants). They agonize over broken relationships among the flock and ongoing sin in the lives of the individual sheep. They wrestle with biblical texts they know the Lord would have them preach but which they also know will step on toes. This doesn’t include all that goes into the administration of a local church. Then, on top of all of this, a pastor faces the temptation to project a façade of having it all together all the time. A tension exists between the high expectations of Scripture and the process of sanctification that is ongoing in every believer. It is a process that has its ebbs and flows in each of us, but pastors are often expected to be on a straight, increasing line that is only moving toward Christlikeness, without any dips or struggles. Yes, a pastor must meet a higher set of standards, but we must take care not to place unrealistic expectations of perfection on him.
Churches of all sizes often esteem their pastors very highly (which can sometimes derive from those unrealistic expectations and that façade), which is not in and of itself a bad thing. Faithful pastors who serve well, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching, are worthy of double honor, according to Paul in 1 Tim. 5:17. Far too often, though, we can allow our showing of honor to result in putting the pastor on a pedestal, elevating him to what becomes effectively a higher class of Christian. This danger grows with the size and public profile of the church, with nationally known pastors becoming celebrities within the evangelical culture. Such a celebrity culture poses a multitude of dangers for the local church. When those celebrity pastors falter, believers who looked to them as almost superheroes of the faith question themselves and their own faith. Those large churches often splinter and fall apart, because they were not built on the Rock but on the shifting sand of a human personality. The faithful pastors of smaller, local churches are viewed with greater skepticism in the light of the failures of the megachurch pastor, which only exacerbates the problems those non-famous pastors face (such as, “Why don’t you preach like that guy I watch on TV?”).
It is no wonder, then, that Paul David Tripp published the book Dangerous Calling in 2012 (it’s a book that quickly made its way into my library). Though the book was written directly to pastors, it provides a glimpse into the traps that exist for those who God has called and set apart for vocational ministry. Yet perhaps the most compelling testimony for the need of a book like this (that is, the need for its truths to be applied) comes on the back of the dust jacket to the hardback version, where five well known evangelicals – four pastors and a seminary president – endorsed the book. Of those five, three have now left the ministry (two of them in disgrace because of moral failings and one because of a loss of faith). I do not believe this to be evidence of a failure on Tripp’s part; it is a failure on the part of those who supposedly read the book to actually take to heart the biblical wisdom it contains. Brothers and sisters, I am thankful for you, because you strive to show biblical honor to me as your pastor. Some of you even do a wonderful job of keeping me humble (a much needed task)! But I urge you to remember that those who serve in this calling face the same trials and tribulations that you do, and they struggle at times like you do. Please keep them (including me!) in your prayers, that we might serve the Lord and His people gladly and faithfully, finishing the races set before us well. Just something to think about…
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