Consider these statistics: 42% of pastors considered quitting in the last year. 50% of pastors do not make it past five years in ministry. 80% do not last ten years. We are seeing an epidemic of pastoral burnout in our day. Why? In their new book The Unhurried Pastor (The Good Book Company, 2024), Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin argue it is becuase the way most pastors do and view ministry is unsustainable.
Thirty-five years ago, Eugene Peterson published The Contemplative Pastor, in which he recounted how he almost quit pastoral ministry becuase it had become something he didn’t recognize, and something he didn’t even want to do. The expectations of his congregation had gotten out of control and he was constantly rushing around trying to meet them — an exercise in futility. He was no longer a spiritual shepherd. He told his elders he either needed to quit or completely redefine his job duties. Thankfully, they agreed to the latter.
Peterson saw the same crisis coming for many other pastors, because pastoral ministry has come to be defined not by God’s perfect design laid out in Scripture, but by the expecations and demands of people, who are often starting from worldly measures of productivity and results. Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin have written this new book to reintroduce Peterson’s warning to a new generation of pastors who are overburdened and overextended becuase we have not let God define what a pastor truly is.
Throughout this book, Ronnie and Brian help us pastors in two main ways. First, Ronnie seeks to help us change the way we think about ourselves. We must embrace and acknowledge the limits of our humanity. We must grow in humility, hopefulness, and self-awareness. And we must priorities contemplation and prayer. Second, Brian takes pastors through a number of practices to implement so we can actually begin the process of changing the way we work, so we can have a sustainable ministry. This section includes chapters on self care, rest, silence, emotions, and friendship.
Hurry and busyness will choke out the heart of a pastor’s ministry. As a pastor myself, I can attest to this in my own life. Hurry is the enemy of true prayer and communion with God, which are the power sources of our ministry to others. When we are hurried, even just mentally, we cannot get to the place where God can do the soul-work he needs to with us. Without this soul-work with God, we have no Holy Spirit power to pass along to our people. If we live like this consistently, pretty soon our ministry will become surface-level, worldly, and powered by the flesh. Your congregation might actually like that, but you will only be able to take so much.
On a recent podcast episide about the book, Martin asks, “When did prayer, seeking the Lord through his word, preparing sermons, and spending time with my people cease to be enough?” In the age of social media, so many pastors have swallowed the lie that they need to be CEOs and visionary leaders and build a personal brand/platform on social media. So many have swallowed the lie that if you are not overseeing lots of community events and experiencing rapid church growth you are not an effective pastor. Brian and Ronnie want to help pastors lay down that unbiblical burden.
On a related note, this is really the heartbeat of Brian’s ministry Practical Shepherding. They seek to help pastors simply be faithful to the calling God has given them in his word. They want to resource and strengthen and encourage pastors to be biblical shepherds, and to recapture a biblical vision for pastoral ministry. I have personally received immense benefit and encouragement from Brian and his ministry and I would seriously encourage other pastors to reach out to them and see what they have to offer.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough to pastors. Every pastor should read it and consider its implications. If you are not a pastor, ask yourself what you can do to make sure your pastor does not carry this unbiblcial burden of expectations. How can you help to provide him the space to become unhurried? If you do, your church will reap the spiritual benefits.
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