Sure pastor’s work hard - some weeks too much but the important thing to remember is that so does everyone else.  People in my church work 6 and sometimes 7 days a week.  Most important thing to do is never complain about how busy you are - the busy people in your church don’t need to hear it.

i just tell people i only work on sundays, and when i am in the offices i’m only moving papers from one folder to another… why fight the stereotypes? 

seriously, being overworked has nothing to do with the validity of reading as work or the amount of callouses on one’s hand.  as i understand it, the people who are developing the pharmaceuticals that save and enhance our lives spend a vast amount of time reading… and i’m pretty sure most CEOs don’t have callouses, but no one suggests they aren’t overworked.

sure pastors read alot, and probably don’t have the callouses of a line worker.  but the line worker doesn’t spend his time worrying that he me might mishandle the Word of God… and when the lineworker’s grandfather is dying, the pastor is there beside him “working” for his benefit.

that said.  i know a lot of lazy pastors and pastors who are only in ministry because they couldn’t hack the real world… it’s sad, but it unfortunately often gives the rest of us a bad name.

For sure politicians are overworked then

I think this has to do with the professionalisation of the office of Pastor.

Gone are the days of the primarily bi-vocational pastor or tent making if you will.

Expectations are higher now, partially due to consumerism. We expect the pastor to perform roles that the lay people should be doing for one another. Why should the pastor be expected to do all the counseling? Shouldnt laypeople be able to turn to one another for wise counsel? Then you have the lazy lay people that do nothing and expect the pastor of smaller churches to be the worship leader, landscaper, janitor, etc. as well as his primary function of preaching the gospel. This adds to the workload of the pastor.

Also, in the church growth crowd it is hard work to minimize the gospel each week and come up with new gimmicks to enhance your worship service....errr...i mean worship “experience”. I mean you gave your self that nifty title of chief spiritual architect or something else that mimicks the corporate world and you have to justify all that. It is hard work to have to go and listen to all of those famous preacher’s podcasts so you can decide which one you will plagiarize the next week in your worship “experience” I mean its hard work to memorize another person’s sermons and sound just like them. “oh, you didnt like that? how about i punch you in the throat” That was from Perry Noble via Mark Driscoll. It was hard work for Noble to be an East Coast Driscoll. It is hard work to go shopping for the latest styles at the Buckle. Hard work to maintain that soul patch or goatee or try to get your ROb Bell glasses.
Yes, it hard work for these pastors today. I feel for them. It is hard work to setup an executive board that is outside the church that oversees your salary and mimicks “accoountability”

Yes, it is hard work for true pastors out there. I agree. But for the “hirelings” that we see filling these CM churches, the living is easy.

Sam, your assessment comes with so much bitterness and anger that it is actually hard to stomach.  I suggest before you post any more you get some counseling and then go study your bible a while on how to speak to and treat pastors. 

To come in here ant take shots at people then to disappear shows a huge lack of maturity both as a person and in Christ.  I would love for you to be here at MMI but your last post and this one show you really only want to judge and condemn.  I oly speak for me here but I say, go away if that is all you care to add to the blogging world.  Go get emotionally healthy, get yourself connected to Christ and his church then from a respectful place post.

Leonard, i would suggest that you study the Bible and read the qualifications of a pastor and you will see that many people that fill pulpits today are not biblically qualified to serve as pastor. I treat true pastors with great respect and honor that they biblically deserve. Newsflash, Leonard, filling a pulpit does not a pastor make.

Which pastors should i give more respect to? Todd Bentley of the great lakeland revival? Heretics like McLaren and TD Jakes? Or maybe pastors like the ilk that are typically found on TBN that fleece the flock on a regular basis.

Its called wolves in sheep’s clothing. I think Paul had something to say about this. You may want to check into this yourself.

But back to the topic at hand. I think that pastors are overworked in general because of the unrealistic and unbiblical expectations that lazy congregants place upon them

i will take your avoidance of my questions as acknowlegement to their accuracy. Thank you. Your silence is continued personal attack speaks volumes.

Sam and Leonard,
Please take a deep breath, go for a walk, take two asprins and call back in the morning.

Sam, I beleive that Leonards original intent was to express concern.  Some who comment here on MMI seem to turn every post into their personal passion.  The post was on being overworked and you turned it to the theology of some men.  I may actually agree with yoy, but the post was on being overworked.  Again some comments try to turn every post in to the evils of the mega church, Rick Warren, or the emergent church.  It is frustrating to MMI readers to see some commentors continually do this.  I appreciate your passion, but don’t let your passion blind you.
Leonard, while I may agree with you, a sure way to get someone fired up is to tell them they are angry, bitter and need counseling.  Sam’s passion may or may not be misplaced, but your comments could also be considered inappropriate for brothers in Christ. 
Remember, DEEP BREATHS!!!

Also,

I’m not overworked per se, but I more often than not work a little too long and hard…

Q: “Is reading work?”

A: Absolutely. I’m currently a full time student and l can say with confidence that when we have a couple hundred pages of reading to do in a week there is not a single person in the class who does not consider it work. Is it rewarding, fulfilling and sometimes enjoyable? Yes, but it is also a lot of hard work. But you don’t have to agree with me, 2 Timothy 5:17 Says to study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed. The Apostle Paul calls those who study God’s word “workmen.” I think this is pretty cool and a well deserved title for our pastors

“Most pastors I know are also fat or bordering on it (I’m “bulky” myself). ....And a few pastors I know have soft, girly hands that do not have callouses.”

Are you seriously trying to use this as an argument to discredit the work pastors do? We pay professional athletes millions of dollars to play a game that kids, teens and your average adults play for free. Professional business men, authors, the dudes who do your taxes, radio talk show hosts and news reporters (the one’s who sit at the desks and talk the entire time ) probably all have “soft girly hands.” What in the world does this have to do with anything? I do realize that farmers and construction workers are ripped dudes with manly hands, but there are plenty of other jobs out there as well.

“Also, most spend a large portion of their time reading and studying the Bible - things that most devoted laymen do AFTER work. Is studying Scripture work? Do we need a break from it?”

Hmmmmm, apparently you’ve been lucky enough to never sit though a church service where the pastor was not well prepared. Actually I don’t want to make light of this one. Often people view pastors as experts because they are behind the pew and carry the title “pastor.” As we all learned from spiderman “With great power comes great responsibility.” In all seriousness, pastors have the potential to cause great harm in peoples lives when they give bad, uninspired, well meaning but doctrinally unsound, well-it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time, advice.

I’ve spent 7 years as a pastor. Haven’t been a pastor for the last 2 years. I now work a “real job.” There is so much less stress in my world now. I go to work, do my job and I am done. That’s it. No emergency phone calls, no sleepless nights frustrated that my sermon isn’t as good as I want it to be, no last minute rushes trying to find more people to serve. I loved being a pastor, but I gotta say it was a lot of work.

The one thing that really did get me slightly irked about this post is that it seems to take the role of pastor lightly. Every pastor I have ever met sincerely desires to add value to people. If you want to pick on people for making easy money I would personally suggest starting with movie stars who get paid $$$$$$$$$ to look pretty and be on t.v. I love going to the movies, but don’t know that I am a better person for it. Pastors are important.

Hey, if you read my long rambling post. Thanks for listening

I feel overworked just reading this post.

I am a Worship “Pastor.” I have roughly half the responsibility of my senior pastor.  In the last two weeks we have all been overworked by the world’s standards.  60+ hours including our weekend gatherings.  Don’t consider that work?  Try waking me up from my Sunday afternoon nap.

As for Mark Driscoll and Perry Noble.  I never considered these church growth pastors.  Mark preaches for at least an hour.  Just because a church is growing, doesn’t mean they are following some cooky church growth model.

Thousands were added to the early church as recorded in the book of Acts.  These guys worked hard.

Paul encouraged Timothy to study the scriptures.  Not something to be done in 15 minutes before watching Prison Break.  These men dedicate their lives to preaching the whole counsel of scripture in a way that both teaches and edifies the body of Christ at the same time making the Gospel clear to those who would believe.

By the way, Paul was a missionary, not a Pastor.  He worked so that the churches offering could support the ministry and its Pastors.  Check 1 Corinthians 9.

Bi-vocational pastor is a by-product of 20th c. consumerism.  It is a necessity in some churches, but by no means a biblical mandate.

Leonard,
“There ya go again Joe” <wink>

Try and stay on point with me. I stayed within the bounds of the topic of my first post. But you are the one that seems to have some unresolved anger towards me that you seem to let overwhelm you rationale.

There are pastors out there working alot of hours but on what? Where are their priorities? Are the working all that time truly studying in the word and shepherding their flock or are they spending their time concocting new gimmicks and elaborate stage sets for their “worship experience”? Are they spending time instead of in the word listening and watching other pastors in order to mimick them and plagiarize their content. Are the pastors traveling from conference to conference feeding into the pastor celebrity culture and feeding into para church organizations like LN that only exist because of the failure of the local church to properly disciple and shepherd their people. Are the pastors spending hours on the web scouring blogs like this one, Peter Hamm, looking to post daily adn engage in arguments all on the local congregation’s dime.

yes, there are VERY hard working pastors out there that are being overworked and underappreciated by their lazy local congregations. BUT there are lazy hirelings that fill the pulpit that have no reason or biblical mandate to carry the title of pastor

So, I’m a lazy hireling.

Sam, I take that as a personal, and uninformed, incorrect, and uncalled for, attack.

You have no idea how I spend my time.