Crash! Don't Become a Statistic

For many pastors, Monday is a day of reflection upon the events of the past week. Sundays are typically the culmination of many weeks’ preparation, planning and prayer. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones considered it the closest a man can come to childbirth. As with all women who have experienced labor and childbirth, my wife would seriously disagree with him. But, risking the ire of women everywhere, his comparison is valid at least on some level. The event you have eagerly and anxiously anticipated for weeks and possibly even months (depending on your level of preparation) has finally arrived and somewhat anti-climactically passed. With its passing comes a certain level of emotional let-down and exhaustion. Those are the times when self-doubt and depression can easily creep in. Without taking Mondays to reflect and regroup, many pastors push those feelings down the road until they snowball in frustration and full-blown depression or bitterness.

Pastors differ in their personalities, thus they differ in the way they deal with the day after Sunday. My personality is such that I typically spend the day in a combination of mindless administrative minutiae, correspondence and reading. That usually leads to some form of reflection on my ministry and ministry in general. That has led me to this series of Monday posts. In my time of reflection this past Monday, I read some startling statistics reported by the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, Dr. Don Deel. Even though Dr. Deel has more degrees than a thermometer, he is currently ABD on his PhD from Liberty.

Dr. Deel uncovered some disturbing statistics while researching his dissertation. Over the next three Mondays, I intend to post his statistical findings on pastors, pastors’ wives, their children and their relationship with the Lord. You will find the data both informative and disturbing. If you are not a pastor, may the information motivate you to encourage your pastor and pray for him and his family. If you are a pastor, may it motivate you to do everything in your power to not become a statistic—which probably means not doing your ministry in your power in the first place.

Here is an introduction to Dr. Deel’s research:

The following alarming facts are a portion of research for my dissertation in Ministry and Marital Satisfaction. These facts should cause a pastor, staff, wife and church to take notice. God’s intent isn’t that the ministry destroys you, but builds your inner, spiritual man. That way, you can go on to do greater and greater works for Him. Yet, what we are seeing today is droves of pastors leaving the ministry defeated, depressed, and dejected. Why is this happening, and what can we do about it? Pastors today are faced with more work, more problems, and more stress than any other time in the history of the church. This is taking a frightening toll on the ministry, shown by the statistics below:

Next Monday, I will begin posting the statistics. After three weeks of startling you with statistics, I hope to encourage you by posting Dr. Deel’s take on how to avoid becoming one of the statistics he has reported.