In training hundreds of preachers and preachers’ wives, and being married to a preacher’s wife, I have seen firsthand during 50-plus years of full-time ministry the toll ministry takes on the preacher and his family.

     I have had letters, phone calls, and face-to-face visits with numerous wives of preachers lamenting their lives as wives of preachers. I have also visited with children of preachers who felt neglected and even abused because of their fathers’ ministry. A teenager said relative to her father’s behavior, “Oh if the church only knew what went on behind closed doors in our home they would fire my father.”

     Every preacher, at one time or another, has heard the statement, and even made it, “How sad for the preacher to save the world and lose his family.” It is not minimizing the importance of “saving the world”, it is shining the spotlight on the preacher’s in-house mission field—his family.

     Preaching is like no other job, and make no mistake, you may call it whatever you wish, but it is a job, work, and none-ending day after day demands. The preacher is like a volunteer fireman in a neighborhood, on call 24-hours a day. The preachers’ job is one overseen and supervised by every member of the congregation who is expecting an endless list of demands to be fulfilled with little time off, limited vacation time, etc.

     In researching and writing Preventing Ministry Burnout, as well as honestly evaluating my own life and ministry, I found some very disturbing truths about preachers and burnout. One amazing discovery was when I lectured on burnout at various places, preachers were reluctant to attend. One preacher asked to visit with me in secret because he didn’t want his elders to see him talking with me about burnout. On one occasion I sent out 100 invitations to attend a seminar, only two responded.

     Not only do preachers have family issues they also have numerous personal issues. Many are overweight, suffering depression, low energy, high blood pressure, and other health related issues. In my book, I discuss these and other personal issues related to ministry and burnout.

     Preaching is not a nine-to-five job, where he punches an end and out time clock. He is on call 24-hours a day, 365 days each year. He doesn’t have “no” in his vocabulary. One preacher said in a proud voice tone, “I’ll rest in heaven; there is too much work to do to spend time resting or taking it easy.”

     The preacher spends hours listening to others and their problems but doesn’t have time or energy to listen to his wife, much less his children. He knows what’s going on in some members’ lives more than he knows what’s going on in his family members lives. A teen boy said, “Daddy visits others more than he visits with me.”

     One preacher confessed that his wife was his “dumping ground” relative sharing all the challenges and problems in his ministry. She is the only “safe person” he can share his personal disappointments, setbacks, hurts, conflicts, and frustrations with. She watches her husband deal with criticism, misunderstandings, and endless conflicts. The children watch and absorb the pain without being able to share in the solutions. On the other side of the coin is the preacher who involves his family in all the issues, but solutions never go beyond the four walls; the only resentment goes out the door.

     It is easier to talk about this problem than to implement a solution. How can we address and dialogue about these issues faced by most preachers in full-time ministry? Here are some suggestions:

     The first step to solutions is an honest admittance of the problem.      The second is a documentation of all the issues related to “neglecting the family.”  The third step is for husband and wife to openly and honestly discuss the need for more balance. The fourth step is to pray for wisdom relative how to share the issues with church leadership. The fifth step in to make out a family time together schedule. The sixth step is to have a family conference where you share your new plans with the family. Adjustments will be made after input. The seventh step should be a sharing with the church leadership your need and plans to lead a more balanced life as their preacher. Be positive and seek their guidance. Don’t try to jump the Grand Canyon in one leap. Eighth, study the balanced life of Christ.

     Hopefully, this brief article has opened the door for serious discussion relative to the preacher and his family. You want to save the word AND your family. I suggest you get a copy of my book Preventing Ministry Burnout (www.amazon.com).

I once heard a chapel speaker tell an audience of preacher students that if they didn’t conduct themselves in a Christ-like manner, the brethren would give them a gift certificate to U-Haul; a nice way of saying “It is time for you to move!” This bit of humor has become synonymous with preacher discouragement, firing, and choosing to move.

     Check it out. Most preachers resign on Monday. This day is called “Blue Monday” by some preachers. Have you ever wondered why? As a preacher for more that 50-plus years, associating with preachers, as well as training preachers, I know one major reason. They are drained from Sunday’s activities. Most preachers have three major lessons they must present on Sunday: (1) a Bible class, (2) a sermon, and (3) an evening class or sermon. This doesn’t include the visiting, meetings, and other ministry involvement. Discouragement is a major reason!

Preachers and Discouragement

Those who study the physical and emotional drain on the preacher after three 20 to 45 minute lessons on Sunday, conclude the drain is equivalent to eight to twelve hours of the energy drain of digging ditches or engaging in some other strenuous physical activity. The preacher is tired. He is emotionally drained. He has a “downer hangover” from Sunday. He is discouraged. Why? There may be several reasons for the preacher being discouraged on Monday (Or on other days):

1. Numbers matter and the numbers were down; low attendance is discouraging.
2. Falling short of personal expectations in what the sermon would accomplish.
3. Negative feedback from some “key” brethren.
4. A continuing lack of change in brethren and leadership. Status quo doesn’t change.
5. There is a continual feeling of isolation; the “Long Ranger Syndrome.”
6. Insincere feedback: “I enjoyed your little talk.”
7. The frustrations that have continued to accumulate week after week.
8. Pressure on family; especially on the children.
9. Ministry burnout—every energy plug is pulled. Running on empty.
10. Feel like work is not appreciated or understood.
11. Unhelpful comparison of self with others or another preacher.
12. Feel like locked in a rut can’t escape from.
13. Spiritual laziness. Feel like there is no use or reason to keep on.
14. Personal issues not related to preaching or ministry.
15. Thinking labor is fruitless, futile, and failing.
16. A list of suggestions and plans continually turned down by church leaders.
17. Unresolved conflict with leadership.
18. Unresolved conflict among members.
19. A note from a member who was leaving to “be fed” in another congregation.
20. Personal health problems—health insurance not sufficient

A very discouraged and overworked preacher went every day to the railroad tracks to watch an express train streak by. An observer asked, “Preacher, why do you come here every day to see the Dixie Flyer go by?” The preacher responded, “Well, I do like to see something I don’t have to push!” Does that get you discouraged? You are not alone (Knights’ Treasury of Illustrations).

     Discouragement is the occupational hazard of preaching. Read my book Preventing Ministry Burnout for additional information and helps on this subject (amazon. com).

     As the times continue to change more and more pressure and demands are placed on the preacher’s shoulders. Members, who are becoming less and less involved in church activities, are having higher and higher expectations of the full-time preacher. Some think of him as a “hireling” who is employed to “do ministry for them.” He has “a hundred bosses.”

Why I Haven’t Resigned

It is easy to find reasons to resign but it takes courage, openness, and commitment to keep the preaching fires burning bright hot (cf. Jeremiah 20:8, 9). During my 50-plus years of preaching I have thought about resigning many times; many of the reasons are in the previous 20 causes of discouragement. I have even written letters of resignation but never turned them in. But like Jeremiah, the fire was still in my bones and I couldn’t quit (Jeremiah 20:8, 9). Thank God.

     In my reasons for not resigning I am talking about what is normally called “Full-time ministry” with a congregation; not quitting preaching in a free-lance context.

1. I haven’t resigned because I work for God, not for man. We are co-workers (1 Corinthians 3:7-10). My Father is my “boss” and my rewarder.
2. I haven’t resigned because I am privileged to handle God’s treasure—the Gospel—the only power that can save lost mankind (Romans 1:14-16). It is God’s dynamite.
3. I haven’t resigned because I am following in the footsteps of the greatest Preacher who has ever preached—Jesus Christ (Mark 1:38). He never looked back. His faithful preaching took Him to a cross.
4. I haven’t resigned because I know my task is to preach, not police. It is God who gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:1-8). I know it is considered “foolishness” by many (1 Corinthians 1:21-23). It is wonderful to be a “fool for the Gospel’s sake.”
5. I haven’t resigned because I am blessed to minister to, and with, the greatest people in the world—my brethren. It is a beautiful blessing (cf. Psalm 133).
6. I haven’t resigned because I will not allow Satan to cause me to resign my commission as a soldier of Christ (2 Timothy 2:1-4). I must keep on fighting (2Timothy 4:6-8).
7. I haven’t resigned because I must practice what I preach to others: “Be faithful unto death” (Revelation 2:10). It’s not over until it is over, when I have taken my last breath and preached my last sermon.
8. I haven’t resigned because I have been given so much to use for the Lord (Luke 12:48). I daily thank God for allowing me to be in the ministry full-time.
9. I haven’t resigned because I am called by the Gospel to preach the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:14; Matthew 28:18-20). I have an obligation to tell the starving where to find the Bread of
   life.
10. I haven’t resigned because I may reach another soul, snatching it out of the fire (Jude 23). The burden of what happens to a lost souls (Mark 8:34-38; Luke 16:19-31).
11. I haven’t resigned because I continually remember that “I am called to suffer like Christ suffered” (Philippians 1:29). I’m not going to let Satan or brethren cause me to wimp-out.
12. I haven’t resigned “because the workers are few.” I have spent years preparing to “fight the good fight of faith.” A lost world needs the Gospel now, because there are so many who are lost, more than ever before (1 John 5:19).
13. I haven’t resigned because I daily work on having the “attitude of Christ” (Philippians 2:4-9); as I seek to set my “mind on things above” (Colossians 3:1, 2).
14. I haven’t resigned because my validation comes from God, not from brethren. Sometimes this is hard to remember but it is true (Matthew 25:21).
15. I haven’t resigned because I want to be an example. I have spent years training preachers; encouraging them not to quit. The same is true relative to encouraging Christians not to quit serving the Lord (cf. 1 Timothy 4:12).
16. I haven’t resigned because I want to hear these words, ”Well done My good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of heaven.”

     Yes! Yes I have thought many times in the 50-pluss years of full-time preaching that I wanted to resign. But thanks be to God, it was only a temporary laps. Discouragement is real; it is not bad unless we allow it to cause us to “neglect the gift” that is in us. God’s only “Begotten Son” was a preacher. I am following in the “steps of my elder brother”—Jesus Christ. “I must go into the next towns that I may preach there also, because that is why I have come forth” (Mark 1:38).

     Instead of resigning— I choose to REIGNITE! Oh yes. I’ll use the gift certificate to U-Haul to get a trailer to haul away some trash.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country” (President John Kennedy)

“Render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and render unto God the things that belong to God” (Jesus Christ).

This week our nation celebrates on the 4th of July our freedom and independence from tyranny, oppression, over taxation, etc.

“America was founded by people who believed that God was their rock of safety. I recognize we must be cautious in claiming that God is on our side, but I think it’s all right to keep asking if we’re on His side” (President Ronald Reagan).

FREEDOM!

Our NATION (USA) is facing the threat of being placed in bondage by the continual loss of the freedoms our Founders—the 56 courageous men who signed the Declaration of Independence—sacrificed, fought and died to achieve.

Our CHURCH (The Body of Christ) is facing the continual threat of losing the freedoms our Founders—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—made possible by the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ.

As Christians we hold dual citizenship. Both carry major responsibilities.

7 POSITIVE THINGS CHRISTIANS CAN DO FOR AMERICA

1. Pray for those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-6)

2. Pay our taxes (Romans 13:6-8)

3. Do not take justice into your own hands (Romans 12:18-21)

4. Obey the laws of the land (Romans 13:1-5)

5. Speak-up in the spirit of love and conviction (Acts 5:27-29; Ephesians 4:15).

6. Daily live the attitude of Christ (Philippians 2:4-9; 1 Peter 4:14-16).

7. Exercise freedom to vote (Acts 1:24-26).

WHAT WILL YOU INTENTIONALLY DO FOR AMERICA? FOR THE CHURCH?

FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE!

“In order for evil to triumph all it takes is for good men to do NOTHING”

(Sir Edmund Burke).

There used to be a popular put-down relative to the education standards, and no ordination requirements, required of church of Christ preachers. The put-down went something like this, “In order to preach for the church of Christ all you need is a King James Bible and know what the church is against.” In my early days of preaching, over 50-years ago, there was some measure of truth in that insult. Once the doctrinal litmus test was passed and you affirmed that you used only the King James Bible you were allowed to preach.

     Well things have changed. Since the church moved from the caves to the cathedrals; from across the tracks to the better side of town, the academic requirements for a preacher have taken on new meaning and power. Thus, qualifications for a man to preach have been adjusted to include academia; to mirror the professional standards of the world. Preaching is a business.

     Many of our early Christian colleges were two year programs started with the goal of preparing preachers. Bible courses were taught by men who had been on the front lines of preaching and working with churches. Few had graduate degrees and some had no degrees. Students were taught the Bible as the inherent, confluent, full and plenary word of God (i.e. 2 Timothy 3:15-17). The Great Commission was burning in the hearts of teacher which inspired students to “go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15, 16).

     Teachers were men who had real world and real church experience; they weren’t just passing on notes they had gained in a seminary or Bible college. They weren’t using liberal and secular principles by tacking on a few Bible verses. They didn’t teach theory or create doubt and confusion in the minds of students. Churches were growing as these prepared men went forth preaching the word, which they believed they had been commanded to do (cf. 2 Timothy 4:1-6).

     Well folks all of that has changed. The model of Jesus calling mature men with experience in the real world to preach has changed. Christ’s three year school of ministry for the “common disciple” has evolved to an academic echelon few choose to go through. We still refuse to use the word seminary because of a prejudice toward denominational churches; yet many of our preachers attend and get degrees from conservative to liberal seminaries.

     We have a “seminary curricula” under school and program names deemed more appropriate. Accreditation has become the Holy Grail all colleges and graduate schools are trying to satisfy. Before secular thinking guided what qualified a preacher to preach and a teacher to teach a preacher, the word of God was the accreditation standard. It was the A.U.G degree based in 2 Timothy 2:15, Study to Show Thyself approved Unto God” (KJV).

     In my opinion every preacher God uses in ministry must first be prepared to function in that ministry. For example Jesus warned that “if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a ditch”(John 15:12-14). The act of preparation is the equipping and making ready for the task ahead or at hand; to get ready to function properly. As never before the church needs qualified teachers of preachers and preacher who are biblically prepared to preach. Sadly, I know of cases where so-called teachers of preachers have had little or no preaching experience in the day to day work of church work. They use the textbooks written by those who have had real church experience; thus they are teaching theory. This isn’t a sound Bible model.

     As a turtle slowly out runs the rabbit, so the church has managed to move slowly from a biblical model of training preachers to an academic model which believes that scholars are the best prepared men to preach and lead the church. As the church has moved slowly from the first century to the 21st century, she has become more and more identified with the political and non-Christian world in which she has been sent to “convert.” The church has become subject to the same educational and professional standards of the world; a world that lies in wickedness (cf. 1 John 5:19). Caesar tells the church schools what to do, if they wants to be accredited.

     The first colleges founded in America were committed to training men to preach the gospel. The first was Harvard College, then Yale, Princeton, etc. A casual reading of these schools catalogues reveal how far, far away they have gone from their original purpose. The degree designations sound biblical: The Master of Divinity, The Master of Theological Studies, Doctor of Ministry, Doctor of Theology, etc. The courses are more secular than biblical.

     Most of these programs recommend in order for a student to get in, a strong background in history, philosophy, literature, social studies, fine arts, psychology, etc. In some advanced degree programs an applicant is expected to have an elementary knowledge in languages: Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German or French.

     I trained, or tried to train, preacher students for over 30-years. Looking back I see a number of mistakes I made, as well as blind spots in my philosophy of preacher training. I am not opposed to a preacher having a balanced education. This used to be guaranteed by a high school diploma, but this is no longer true as some graduates can’t read the text on their diplomas. I even venture to say that some college graduates are not very literate. I’ve seen it firsthand.

A Biblical Model

When we look through the pages of Scripture we don’t find one bound model or example of how to prepare a man to be a spokesman or preacher. When Israel was trying to find a replacement for King Saul, Samuel offered a candidate. Here is how God replied to Samuel’s suggestion: “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for men look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the HEART” (1 Samuel 16:1-7). One credential—HEART!

     The preparation of a preacher starts with the HEART—the inner man.. A man may have academic degrees, be handsome and well groomed, be an orator with a golden tongue, be a good people person, and has offers from large congregations, but if his heart isn’t right, God doesn’t approve of him. A preacher may have great homiletic skills, be a great students of hermeneutics, know theology, and doctrine, and is a great organizer, but what about his heart?

     Therefore, the training of a preacher must begin, continue, and always involve his heart. I confess that during my years of training preachers there wasn’t a course or major emphasis placed on preparing the student’s heart. I guess we assumed it would happen automatically by studying the Bible and ministry courses. Not so!

     The word HEART is mentioned approximately 1000 times in the 66 books of the Bible. This makes it obvious that God is very, very interested in the attitudes, actions, and dispositions of the heart. Here are just a few of the verses where God tells us about heart:

1. The preacher must be self-disciplined to be pure in heart (Matthew 5:8).
2. The preacher must learn how to keep his heart with diligence (Proverbs 4:23).
3. The preacher must guard his heart from envy (Proverbs 23:17).
4. The preacher must remember God knows the secrets of his heart (Psalm 44:21).
5. The preacher must keep the word active in his heart (Psalm 119:11).
6. The preacher must remember his heart is touchable by God’s word (Acts 2:37).
7. The preacher must remember his treasure deposits relate to his heart (Matthew 6:21).
8. The preacher must trust the Lord with all his heart (Proverbs 3:5).
9. The preacher must continually guard his heart (Proverbs 4:23; Philippians 4:7).
10. The preacher must not let his heart be troubled (John 14:1, 27).
11. The preacher must remember God will give him the desires of his heart (Psalm 37:4).
12. The preacher must not harden his heart (Mark 6:52).
13. The preacher must remember the mouth reveals what’s in the heart (Matthew 12:34).
14. The preacher must praise God with his whole heart (Psalm 9:1).
15. The preacher must allow God to inspect his heart (Psalm 26:2).

     These are only a few of the heart verses that should be taught, learned and applied in the life of a man preparing to preach. It all starts with the heart. The challenge is to intentionally work on applying these verses in the will, intellect, conscious, emotions and mind. A preacher may be prepared in 101 things but if his heart is not prepared he is not pleasing to God; no matter how great the brethren think he is.

     PREACH THE WORD! Not about, around, under or close to the word—THE WORD! This can only flow from a PURE HEART.