{"id":4165,"date":"2013-11-14T11:32:55","date_gmt":"2013-11-14T15:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=4165"},"modified":"2013-11-14T11:32:55","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T15:32:55","slug":"how-hard-is-pastoral-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=4165","title":{"rendered":"How Hard is Pastoral Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carl Trueman has helpfully challenged the common discussion of how hard pastoral ministry is<\/a>. I encourage you to read his post<\/a>. Is pastoral ministry difficult? Of course. Life is difficult as a sinner in a fallen world. But the problem comes when anyone begins to talk about their life, their setting, their calling as the most difficult.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my take. When you are talking to young men who want to be pastors, tell them that hardship awaits them. Make sure that reality doesn\u2019t blindside them (though even here some overdo it, such that I have heard young men come out of sessions asking, \u201cIs there any joy in such ministry?\u201d or \u201cWhy then does he continue in such a wretched life?\u201d). Be upfront about challenges, but never tell your people or the world in general that pastors have the toughest job. This sounds like \u201chumble brag\u2019 or even an invitation to a pity party. It suggests our eyes are too much on ourselves and not enough on the challenges of those we serve.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, saying that any of us have the toughest jobs distracts us from real suffering of fellow believers in other parts of the world- like what is shown in this video below. This gives some perspective.
\n