The Fat Pastor, Pt. 1
I read something recently that gave me reason to pause–literally and figuratively.
The New York Times published the article, “Taking a Break From the Lord’s Work“– a well-documented plea for pastors and leaders of other faiths to take a break. Like, for real. See if the opening paragraph doesn’t snag you:
The findings have surfaced with ominous regularity over the last few years, and with little notice: Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could.
Yowzers. “Many would change jobs if they could.” Does that grab your attention? It should. Quickly. Pastors in the pulpit are completely exhausted and, unfortunately, have no place to turn to.
- So they relish the thought of getting to the day where they can retire, living lives of quiet desperation in the meantime.
- They indulge in self-destructive behaviors, seeking for a release from the constant pressure of “being on.”
- They “check out” from their congregation–emotionally, physically and spiritually. “The lights are on, but no one’s home!”
Pastors are fatter, sicker, and sadder than the average American. Sadly, I can’t say that I’m surprised. If you’ve been a part of a church for any amount of time, you know people like this. You may even be one of those people yourself. You’re unhappy–deep down on the inside–and you’re not sure why. “I thought working for the Lord wasn’t supposed to be this … miserable.”
More from the Times article:
Public health experts who have led the studies caution that there is no simple explanation of why so many members of a profession once associated with rosy-cheeked longevity have become so unhealthy and unhappy.
But while research continues, a growing number of health care experts and religious leaders have settled on one simple remedy that has long been a touchy subject with many clerics: taking more time off.
From where I sit, I can see three reasons why anecdotally and statistically the Times article rings true:
1. Badge of Honor. Somehow, someway, becoming a workaholic became honorable. A modern-day one-upsmanship game: “I’ve worked 50 hours this week!” “Well, I’ve worked 60!” “That’s nothing. Last week, I worked 100 hours. I was here for 20 hours every day. Did I mention my kids hate me?” This struggle isn’t specific to the church culture, but I do feel like we have a responsibility to know better. For people who center so much of our lives on God’s grace and not having to work to get it, we seem slow to translate that truth to all areas of our lives. Even work.
2. All on me. When we feel we’re always on, it messes with our brains. At a subconscious level, the idea of “I must always answer my phone/email/Twitter/Facebook whenever someone contacts me. What if it’s urgent?” Well, what if it’s urgent? If you’re unavailable, do you think that life will cease to move on without you? No. It will. The world will keep turning and you’ll touch base with whomever you need to when you’re available again. They’ll be okay. The world, as it were, is not on your shoulders. We pay lip service to this, but few pastors believe it.
3. God’s call. “[Pastors] tend to be driven by a sense of a duty to God to answer every call for help from anybody, and they are virtually called upon all the time, 24/7.” For the record, that’s not a good thing. You can trump any objection by throwing, “…because God called me to do it” on the end.
- “Pastor Bill, you’re 50 lbs. overweight and you’re in danger of contracting type two diabetes. You need to work out more.” “Oh, hogwash. It’s only a little extra weight and besides, I don’t have time to workout. I’m busy doing the work that God called me to do. Building his kingdom!“
- “Honey, they kids really could stand to have you around more. They miss it when you’re not at home.” “I know, but it’s a sacrifice we have to make. God’s called me to build his church. I’m just doing my job.“
- “Hey man, you look really bummed out. What’s up? You seem super unhappy with how things are going at the church.” “Yeah. I feel like there’s other stuff out there I want to try out, but I can’t. God’s called me to do this and I’d be unfaithful if I tried something new.“
Chances are, you’ve heard conversations that sound eerily similar to the ones listed above. Maybe you’ve even been on either end of these scenarios. If that stats are true, conversations like this are happening more than we realize.
What’s the antidote? I’ll take a look at how to turn around this downward trend later this week. In the meantime, does your experience tell you that this is true? Have you experienced something similar in your context?
Wow
This is huge, literally and figuratively.
I have noticed this though, especially in how churches serve food inside church. A lot of candy and soda for people to buy and sit there and “fellowship” while they eat.
Honestly, and I do not want to be that guy that just plugs links, but my Dad has started a ministry that deals with all of this.
Its called MinistryCare and deals with the health of pastors. He does coaching and counseling for ministers and is even a certified health coach. Reading stuff like this just goes to show that this is needed even more.
As a church intern for the summer in high school ministry, I see why so many pastors are burnt out. Thankfully, I've been able to say 'no' to certain things because I do not wish to overwork myself (although I do tend to under-work, so that may be why haha). Every person is called to be a minister in some way all of the time; a pastor is simply one who officially ministers pastorally for 40ish hours a week, and the rest of the time ministers to others like everyone else does, unofficially. Does that seem to make sense? haha
and here i thought you were going to take a stab at the moral stigma we still assign to obesity…. another time perhaps.
i think your analysis is dead on. however, you missed one contributing factor in the overworked pastor picture. the need to be on, be available, whatever and whenever, displays a stunning lack of confidence in the congregation as ministers. this is not only a problem of pastoral perspective… for all our talk about personal walks and the priesthood of all believers, we constantly go running to the pastor when faced with a spiritual care crisis. in my opinion, it's congregants who are getting “fat,” sitting around on their butts waiting for the pastor to do the work of the church.
Justin, I think you are right on talking about the justification people use to not take care of themselves. It's like there is a nobility in self-destruction. In the end, we don't serve our people well because we are too tired, too unhealthy to provide the leadership they need and want. I'm lucky to have a personal trainer in our congregation that has trained me for the last 2 1/2 years. It has made a huge difference in my health and job performance. It keeps me accountable and consistent in taking care of myself.
In the first congregation I served, it became a bit scandalous that I played basketball for 60-90 minutes in the afternoon 3-4 times per week. Never mind that I gave 3-4 nights per week to the congregation when I could have been home with my wife. Pastors aren't the best about taking care of themselves, and congregations can encourage their pastors to be healthy without being judgmental.
In some congregations where the culture needs the conversation–as an interim pastor I will facilitate discussion about how a pastor invests their time. It can be a good conversation to have.
I just took a power nap. In the middle of the day. At church. Scandalous.
Scandalous!
“A nobility in self-destruction.” Well spoken. Do you think this comes from some odd desire to earn God's grace?
For real. It's almost like we don't believe that Jesus can work in and through other people. The priesthood of all believers gets lip service, but is rarely heeded.
What's a workaround?
Bring it, G. Chadley … You're going to be leading the next generation of leaders. So… How do we fix this? What's the most important thing to be teaching the next generation?
Oh My Goodness! I have been hoping someone else would notice this! It's becoming such a trend in our churches, and it's simply unbecoming. I'm a PK, and debating on going into ministry because I don't want to turn into this person.
Don't you think it's hubris at some point? I mean, I think it's more the pastors than the people who believe that Jesus can't work through others. I think many pastors fail to empower the talented and dedicated through their own micromanagement and poor leadership. or maybe that's just at my church.
I'm not sure how much is theological and how much is psychological. Over time, I've gone from measuring the value of my work by the amount of time I spend on task to the quality of my focus, creativity, and presence. Doesn't always work, but I do try to pay attention to it.