According to a study at CNN:Money found here,
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/pf/0910/gallery.stressful_jobs/index.html
Apparently a music ministry leader/worship leader is 5th on the most stressed/lowest paid scale, and a pastor/minister is 10th! What conclusions can we draw from this?
1) I have to wonder what parameters were set in terms of those interviewed. The median salary for a pastor is listed at $45,300. Did CNN interview the mega-church pastors (a mega-church being defined as 2,000 members or more)? Typically in those settings, there is a multitude of staff handling a multitude of responsibilities, generally while the senior/lead pastor makes 6 figures or more.
2) If the survey does indeed encompass the broad range of pastoral service (small, bi-vocational pastors all the way to the mega-church pastor), and 71% of those pastors claim high amounts of stress, a couple of things are to be discussed. Does the church place too much on the pastor? Does the pastor take too much on himself (which is probably more likely)? Is this an indictment on our 'consumer driven' church culture, where people come to church and expect the pastor to "grow" them, instead of people actually being the church? Are our seminaries doing a realistic job in preparing individuals for ministry and the burdens within (in my own opinion, probably not)?
3) Of the top 10 jobs listed, all of them (with the possible exception of the news reporter) require interpersonal action/communication as vital components of their profession. Is this an indictment upon our culture, that we are finally seeing the results of continually being a culture that no longer functions within face-to-face relationships as the norm?
4) Jumping back to the ministry side of things, Paul stated in Galatians 1:10, "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." Perhaps the stress level is directly correlated to the trap many in the ministry fall into...attempting to please men, rather than God.
5) As a final thought, are we to assume that those interviewed (in terms of the music leader and pastor) do not leave their high-stress position due to their being "called" by God? If that is the case, perhaps again Paul's words should echo in their minds, this time from Philippians 4:4-7, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
it definitely should be a 'called into' rather than a 'go into'...as someone told me who was a student at a seminary (nameless) there were men there who were shooting for the big churches so they could have the big salaries.... so much for being 'called' by the Lord.
Posted by: MOMMA LOU | 11/20/2009 at 04:59 AM