Beats Workin’ in a Coal Mine!

NOT Pastors

Pastors, here is a perspective that might help you like it’s helped me on those hard days.

In ministry, some days are hard. Some seasons are hard.

Often I read social media posts bemoaning the hardship of being a pastor.

“I’m on call 24/7.”
“They say it’s lonely at the top. Pastors know this well.”
“Expectations are unwritten, yet demand total fulfillment!”
“They expect the pastor to be everything!”
“Who pastors the pastors?”
“A pastor’s family needs to understand how tough it is, especially the wife. Many think it’s a walk in the park.”

There are memes depicting all the different skills a pastor is expected to have, or they show how a pastor ages in the course of a year.

We love feeling sorry for ourselves.

Some great pastors have subtly offered advice for those dealing with the stress, disappointment, betrayal, and pain of ministry.

• “Don’t worry about criticism from people you wouldn’t go to for advice!”
• “Take time off and get perspective.”
• “Have realistic expectations.”
• “Learn to set boundaries.”
• “Get more people on your team!”

Those are good words. Keep them coming.

But at the risk of offending some, I’m going be a bit more direct and say what I really think:

BUCK UP BUTTERCUP!

What? Yes. Buck up. You’re a pastor, not a prisoner. Nobody is nailing you to a cross.

Often when people feel sorry for me because I worked some long hours or had to deal with a stressful situation, I reply…
“Beats workin’ in a coal mine! And my father-in-law actually worked in a coal mine!”

Seriously! My wife’s dad actually worked in a coal mine.
(Side note: I married a coal miner’s daughter, and she doesn’t even sing country music!)

You think your life is hard? Trying being a coal miner in the 1950’s! These guys were so exhausted at the end of the day, their wives would strip them, bathe them, and hand feed them. If they didn’t, they would waste away because they were just too tired to eat enough.

How many pastors have died from black lung disease, or the church caving in? My wife’s father died when she was only 16. My wife’s maternal grandfather died in a mine accident in the 1940’s when my mother-in-law was only 14 years old!

Stop feeling sorry for yourself!

“But you don’t understand what I’m dealing with.”

You’re probably right. I’ve faced some challenges and stress in my 30 years of ministry, but perhaps not to the degree you’ve faced.

But maybe Paul the Apostle understood.

When Paul and Silas were wrongly imprisoned and placed in stocks and chains, they felt sorry for themselves and whined about it on Facebook, right?

No! They broke out in worship!

Paul wrote that he learned the secret of being content in every circumstance. Even when beaten, whipped, betrayed, shipwrecked, or in chains, still he was content.

Paul writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice!” This isn’t a prosperity gospel preaching megachurch pastor with shiny teeth. This is the guy who was given 39 lashes five times! He was beaten with rods. He was stoned! He was cold, naked and afraid.

He was also content and tells us, “Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS!”

And if Paul isn’t convincing, remember that Jesus was crucified for YOUR SIN!
You think being a pastor is hard? Well I’m sure carrying your cross up Calvary’s hill for your sin was no picnic either!

And that’s what we deserve. We deserve Hell – we’ve earned it!

Instead we get Heaven! So get up, pick up your cross, and follow Him!

Do you want to be miserable? Focus on how hard your life is. Focus on how wronged, mistreated, and misunderstood you are. Focus on that mean deacon or apathetic presbyter. Focus on what you “deserve” or what OTHER people enjoy that you’ve been deprived of.

But it’s a lie. Nobody owes you anything.

Do you want to be content and happy? Focus on the goodness of God. Be thankful. Count your blessings. Sing a worship song in the middle of suffering. Thank God for Heaven instead of Hell. Learn to love the difficult people. Learn to pray for your leaders. Get up and serve someone. Pick up the phone and encourage a pastor in a situation even worse than yours.

And pastor, if this life of ministry is really too much to bear, stop whining and go do something else!

But if God has called you, you’ll be miserable pursuing anything else. So buck up and thank the Lord that He called you to serve his Church.

It reminds me of when Jack Parr quit The Tonight Show. He got up in the middle of the program and stunned the audience, producers, and viewers by saying: “I am leaving The Tonight Show. There must be a better way of making a living than this.” He walked off the set.

Less than a month later, he reappeared and said, “As I was saying before I was interrupted…” After a long applause break he continued… “I believe my last words were that there must be a better way of making a living than this. Well, I have looked… and there isn’t.”

I feel blessed to be a pastor. I did ministry long before I was paid for it. I’ll keep doing it until I die, paycheck or no paycheck. It’s what I’m made for. It’s my calling.

And it’s awesome! I get to work for God! I get to serve people! I get to lead people in worship. I get to study and preach the Word! This is the BEST job!

And even on my worst days…

…it still beats workin’ in a coal mine!

For further reading / viewing:
Dennis Prager – The Key to Unhappiness