St Sebastian, Pietro Perugino (1446/1452 – 1523), Borghese, Rome

In preparation for some presbytery work, I recently came across a form used in the process of receiving new pastors into our denomination. The form is to be signed by a physician who must examine the candidate and then certify that they “will be able to sustain the physical and emotional demands of full-time professional ministry.” As it should be, we don’t see blood pressure or cholesterol numbers, just the certification that the candidate is good to go. But to help the physician in making the determination of fitness for ministry, the form provides eight points to consider:

1. The average pastor works 50-plus hours per week.
2. He/she normally works at least part of every day each week, at least one full day every weekend, and usually at least two evenings per week.
3. The average pastor trains and manages the responsibilities of numerous volunteers and, in most cases, at least some paid staff.
4. A ministry professional’s capacity to fulfill his/her ministry responsibilities is dependent in part upon his/her physical condition, and his/her body’s ability to handle stress and long hours of ministry.
5. It is common for a ministry professional to place a higher priority on the health of others, rather than on his/her own health.
6. The average pastor deals with constant gossip, regular conflict, higher unrealistic expectations than almost any other profession, and is often underpaid for his/her education and experience.
7. Every person who attends a church — whether they contribute financially or not — considers himself an expert on the pastor’s “performance” and usually expresses that opinion to others … but not to the pastor.
8. The emotional stress of being responsible for the satisfaction and well-being of anywhere from one hundred to several thousand people is much like your medical profession, except a pastor has to socialize with all of them after work.

I felt uneasy after reading this description of the life I had lived for so many years. No wonder there is such a dearth of good pastoral candidates these days. Frankly, I think the list is poorly and provocatively worded, but, better said, I would agree with the basic truth of each statement. Yes, it is sometimes like that.

As I was pondering this discouraging list, a strong rejoinder popped into my text message inbox. A pastor friend still practicing told a quick story about an incident from earlier in the day as he was caring for the sheep in his charge: “What a blessing this job can be,” he wrote.

I needed to hear that.

The life of a pastor can be hard; it often is. The life of a Christian can be hard. Jesus pronounces a blessing on his followers when (not if) they are persecuted. (Matthew 5:11-12). Writing to his fellow pastor and friend Timothy, Paul likens his life in ministry to having fought a good fight and having run the long race. (2 Timohty 4:7) No image of a room full of trophies or coming to the end of wonderful cruise.

But Jesus’ prayer for his disciples on the very night that he was betrayed is that “my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11) To the Corinthians Paul acknowledges affliction as part of his ministry but presents joy as greater, “In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” 2 Corinthians 7:4. Reflecting on the outcome of his long ministry, John writes, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 4)

In order to be installed as a pastor in our denomination, a physician must examine the candidate, blood pressure, cholesterol numbers, and all, and certify that the candidate “will be able to sustain the physical and emotional demands of full-time professional ministry.” The form the physician signs paints a dismal and bleak picture of the pastor’s life. No wonder we have so few people responding to a call to be a minister.

What if we added, “Must be able to fight a good fight and run a long race – and to be overflowing with joy.”?