Mike Rowe has captured audiences everywhere taking them on escapades as we gasp at the dirtiest jobs he can find. While he can’t effectively drag a camera crew to follow a Pastor through sensitive and confidential situations, he may have missed the mark on the toughest job. It is Pastor Appreciation month, and Pastors and their wives are in need of a lot of appreciation!
The Daily Life of a Pastor…
I listened to a podcast the other day on the week in the life of a Pastor. It really brought to light the difficulties they deal with on a daily basis, especially with this current climate.
The internet has brought forth a whole host more of opportunity for visual/emotional/physical/etc. adultery. Not to mention, science being questioned and gender being an option. Marriages are hurting, families are struggling, sicknesses and stressors are all around us. Your Pastor processes these heartaches continuously. Yes it’s his job, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Prior to Sunday, they spend a considerable amount of time on a sermon planning it out, digging deep, praying for, and preparing to address the congregation. They stand up on Sunday and deliver their sermon while looking out at stone faces, some:
- contemplating the deep mysteries revealed,
- critiquing him or over-analyzing every word he says,
- hardly anyone smiling unless he throws in a light-hearted joke (which now some are judging him for),
- addressing the congregation in light of the fact that not all are saved,
- etc.
All that to say, he is likely not receiving a lot of encouraging feedback during the sermon. After church, some pastors deal with the analyzing and questions on specific points in his sermon, or asking him to do things differently, or some truly deep confession times through conviction. All heavy items to listen to after pouring out your heart in love to preach the gospel.
Monday comes and he is exhausted but the calls and emails keep coming in. (I’ve heard from a couple to give Pastors a day of grace if you can, and then contact them on Tuesday if it can wait.) The week is then wrought with some words of cheer and grace, but also with meetings. There are those who are struggling with sickness and diseases requesting his comfort. There are those requesting spur of the moment meetings at all hours of the day for crisis and trials. Marriages are crumbling at astonishing rates, and the therapist portion of his job listens to a lot of the chaos resulting from sinful choices.
As well, he even leads a class on Wednesdays that needs preparation. Yet, during all of this, he still carves out time to prepare his sermon. The cycle repeats week after week.
His support system…
Standing behind him, we pray is a Godly woman wrought with grace and patience. As a wife and (usually also a mother), she recognizes her husband has one of the most emotionally draining jobs there is. Along with that, he is like an on-call doctor, his cell phone sounding off at a moment’s notice. Missing soccer games, scarfing down dinner as he jets out the door, hopping out of bed in the middle of the night, etc.
In the Old Testament, we see Deuteronomy starts with Moses appointing qualified leaders to assist him in leading, taking on multiple tasks that he was doing by himself. In the New Testament, we see the apostles delegate roles to wise men filled with the Holy Spirit. All to keep their roles in tact. The positions God had designed for them to fulfill were made possible by the capable men able to assist in many different ways.
Make sure you pray for your Pastor, his wife, and that there are a plethora of men filled with wisdom to call upon.
Encouragement is definitely needed!
It is a taxing job for the couple. This Pastor Appreciation Month 2019, let’s bless them with all the encouragement they can get! I challenge you to not just limit it to the month of October! I’ll add a gift guide for Pastors (and Youth Pastors, and Family Pastors, etc.). Here are 28 unique and awesome gifts for Pastor’s wives because they definitely also need encouragement!
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They do indeed have a weighty calling. Thanks for the reminder to intentionally show both the pastor and his wife appreciation and support.