I am in the process of concluding a mini-sabbatical (3 1/2 weeks) and am grateful for the time I’ve had away to rest and refresh myself spiritually. More congregations need to demand that their pastors take these types of breaks to protect themselves against the pitfalls of ministry. And yes, there are many pitfalls.
The North American Mission Board recently published some alarming statistics gathered by my old friend Darrin Patrick:
Craig Groeschel, in his book it, asks some questions every pastor should ask every once in a while. These are the type of questions that help keep me centered. It has been the practice of asking myself these kinds of questions that, I am convinced, has kept me in vocational ministry. For those of you have been in full-time vocational ministry for long, and who care deeply about the effectiveness of the ministry to which you have been assigned, you will understand what I am talking about as you read these questions:
Have you forsaken your first love? Be honest. Do you love ministry more than you love Christ? Do you care more about what people think about you than what God thinks about you? Do you strategize about ways to grow your ministry more than you think about how to grow God’s people? Do you study the Bible more to preach more than you study it to hear from God? Do you pray more often in public than you do in private? Have you lost your first love?” – Craig Groeschel, it, p. 170.
soundoftruth.org 