Several years ago, a fellow pastor called me on the phone to ask if he might come to my office to talk with me. He said, “I’ve got problems, and I desperately need to talk to somebody.” When he arrived about fifteen or twenty minutes later, he reminded me of a steam boiler about to explode.
He began to unload his problems one by one – and there were many. I won’t go into detail, but it soon became obvious that he was not dealing with his problems in a constructive way. He was obviously suffering what is called “burnout.” The clouds on his horizon were dark and threatening.
After he left my office, I began to reflect on my life as a minister. My view of the work God called me to do moved quickly to the opposite end of the attitude spectrum when compared to the view given by this hot-tempered and emotionally upset young pastor. That God would call me to the Christian ministry fills me with a sense of gratitude. Here are the things about being a minister for which I am deeply grateful:
First of all, I am called to a great cause. I guess the bottom line is whether you primarily want to have material things or to be on mission. I would rather be on mission – in other words, to serve and advance a cause that is both worthy and eternal in nature.
Second, I am called to serve and share with a wide variety of people. No other vocation – and there are many excellent ones – gives the opportunity to work with people quite like the ministry does. By being involved with others — working with them, serving them, loving them, caring for them, suffering with them, rejoicing with them — my life is made enormously meaningful.
Third, it brings variety to my life. What other profession or vocation provides the variety of experiences that being a pastor does? None that I can imagine! The experiences I have had and the places I have been are worth far more than money. At any moment I can stop and call up memories of past experiences and relationships that I wouldn’t exchange for all the gold in Ft. Knox. I am a better person because of them.
Fourth, it meant that my wife could be closely involved with me in my labors. In most other occupations the job is primarily an outside interest with only occasional social opportunities for the wife to touch the working part of her husband’s life. Not so in the ministry. The wife labors by his side as a partner. No minister ever had a finer partner than I had. She went home to be with the Lord on Aril 5, 2016.
Fifth, I have some benefits other vocations do not provide. While it is true that the financial benefits are not comparable with lots of other vocations, there are many other factors on the plus side of the equation. For example, to be recipient of the love and care of a church family is a blessing other vocations do not provide.
Now let me hasten to say that I am not naïve. I realize that there will always be difficult challenges to accept and perplexing problems for ministers to face. When they are handled in the right spirt and with God’s help, the perspective will change, the horizon will brighten, and a minister will be filled with gratitude.
Unfortunately, the pastor who came into my office burdened with problems didn’t have either the right spirit or the proper amount of patience to have any room in his heart for gratitude.
The Paper Pulpit 
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