Gwen and I are expecting our first child this September. I expect when we all have children it will make us rethink how we are doing ministry. We may not think about this that much since most of us do not have children and can manage a heavy work load and marriage, or maybe we can’t. The excitement of our first full time position at a church may still be fresh and we have not felt the strains of our jobs yet, or maybe we have. Maybe we are really struggling with the demands of ministry. Maybe the meetings, the sermons, the events, the programs, and all of the other demands of ministry are taking a toll on our marriages, our children, ourselves, just 2 ½ years out of college.
Regularly I hear of pastors and youth pastors whose marriages and families are struggling due to the demands of their ministry. Almost every month I hear of disgruntled wives that have a disdain for the church and ministry because of what it has done to their husbands and families. Oh God, may my ministry NEVER harm my family and be the factor that disrupts its harmony. My very first, foremost, and most important ministry is my marriage, and in September it will be my wife and child. I cannot imagine the pain of one day watching my child walk away from their faith because of my ministry.
Could the way we do ministry today seriously harm our families in the future? Do our wives already feel the strain of our ministry? Do WE feel the unhealthy strain of ministry already? Could this be harmful? Several years ago I would have never thought that ministry could be harmful to our families. Is the ministry causing us to neglect our families? Is our ministry removing the joy of serving Christ from our lives? What do our wives think about our ministry and our church? I pray that we’ll be bold enough to ask ourselves and our families these questions and be strong enough to make the correct changes to allow ourselves to give our BEST ministry to our families. Please read the article below. I pray for y’all each week. I’d love to hear thoughts and comments from you.
Regularly I hear of pastors and youth pastors whose marriages and families are struggling due to the demands of their ministry. Almost every month I hear of disgruntled wives that have a disdain for the church and ministry because of what it has done to their husbands and families. Oh God, may my ministry NEVER harm my family and be the factor that disrupts its harmony. My very first, foremost, and most important ministry is my marriage, and in September it will be my wife and child. I cannot imagine the pain of one day watching my child walk away from their faith because of my ministry.
Could the way we do ministry today seriously harm our families in the future? Do our wives already feel the strain of our ministry? Do WE feel the unhealthy strain of ministry already? Could this be harmful? Several years ago I would have never thought that ministry could be harmful to our families. Is the ministry causing us to neglect our families? Is our ministry removing the joy of serving Christ from our lives? What do our wives think about our ministry and our church? I pray that we’ll be bold enough to ask ourselves and our families these questions and be strong enough to make the correct changes to allow ourselves to give our BEST ministry to our families. Please read the article below. I pray for y’all each week. I’d love to hear thoughts and comments from you.
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