Pastor, there are some things your church can’t do for you.
They simply can’t.
Please understand. I love the church. Greatly. I’m a local church guy. But they simply can’t do these things for you.
And if you think they can, or you leave it up to them to do these things, you’ll someday find out the hard way—they can’t.
I’ve watched it many times as pastors didn’t do these. They followed the demands of the church and somehow expected the church to be providing these needs. It caused a void.
Some pastors have even crashed and burned waiting for someone else to do for them what only they could do.
Granted, you may have the greatest church of your ministry career, but regardless of how wonderful the church is they can’t do all the things for you that your soul, personal life and ministry demands.
You’ll have to do them yourself—by God’s grace—if they’re going to be done.
Here are seven things your church can’t adequately do for the pastor:
Hold you accountable. The church can’t guard your heart and character. It doesn’t matter how many rules or committees they have, if you want to ruin your life, you’ll find a way around the structure.
Love your family and protect your time with them. They may love your family. They may respect your time with them, but if you really want to protect your family—you’ll have to take the lead role here.
Understand the demands on your time. They can’t. And you’ll only be disappointed if you expect them to. All jokes aside, they know you work more than Sunday, but they don’t know all the pressure placed upon your role. They can’t understand anymore than you can understand what it’s like to sit at their desk, or operate that machine they operate, or drive that police car, or teach that classroom. We only know what we know, and we can’t fully understand what another person’s experience is until we experience it.
