About seven years ago I started a new job in the lighting industry: I went to work for a rep firm. Until that point I had worked in a showroom and then as a sales manager at a local lighting distributor, so I had a background in the field. I was actually on my way out of the lighting world when a friend offered me an opportunity that looked really good, so I took it.
As I made the rounds and began to meet the various clients/customers that I would be working with, I was introduced as a bi-vocational pastor. Which was quite all right with me, as I prefer flying my flags out front. We were making introductions at the largest local “independent” and had sat down for a few minutes with the GM. Upon hearing that I was a pastor as well, he said, “Man, I really worry about your soul. Lighting is the dirtiest part of this industry. I don’t know if you can be successful without selling your soul.”
His comment set me on my heels a little bit. I had to stop and consider what I was getting into. I am still grateful for this little dialogue because it forced me to count the cost up front. I determined that I would not lose my soul in the back-alley gutters of architectural lighting. From that point on, when we would periodically encounter each other, I would ask, “Hey JC, how’s my soul looking?” And he always responded something like, “From what I hear it’s still intact.”
There are thousands of Christians like me, working in industries rife with gossip, lies, backbiting, and a lot of other crud. We know that there may come an occasion when we have to give up a job for the sake of our soul and throw ourselves and our livelihoods upon the mercy of God to provide. We put our armor on every morning because we know what we are walking into. Since Jesus is the One who warns against gaining the world at the cost of the soul, we can confidently state that keeping one’s soul intact is a noble aspiration.
The knowledge of the danger the Christian laborer faces is actually a defense against that danger. And it is a knowledge that the pastor sometimes forgets. The secular laborer knows that he is about to step into a building where profanity laced tirades and underhanded deals may be par for the course. But the pastor is walking into a church building, for crying out loud. The secular worker knows that he might be tempted to dissemble, laugh at vulgar jokes in order to fit in, butter up the boss, get drunk with the boys, or compromise in a thousand little ways. But does the pastor remember that he is going to be tempted to minimize truth in order to win friends, cut deals in order to “grow ministry”, or make unreasonable promises to keep discontent members from leaving?
Most of our congregation comes to church looking for refuge in a tumultuous world. But for the pastor, the church may be the eye of the storm. For the congregation, church is a place characterized by joy. But for the pastor, it may be a place of personal pain. For the congregation, the world is the place where they are tempted to sin. For the pastor, the church is the place where he is tempted to sin.
So I want to urge every pastor to make it a top priority to not lose your soul in the midst of this thing called ministry. Don’t lose your soul to bitterness. Don’t lose your soul to discouragement. Don’t lose your soul to selfishness. The secular employee knows that he may lose promotions, accolades, and even a salary for the sake of his soul. Pastor, are you willing to be “less successful” (whatever that means) in ministry in order to keep your soul intact?
In the secular world, keeping your soul intact tends to revolve around integrity and character. While those criteria also hold true for the pastor, I think we might add joy. In the ministry, joy is an indication that our souls are whole. That we have not allowed them to become fractured by the pain of a “failed” ministry, the grief of those who leave, the resentment against those who withstand our efforts, or even the envy of those whose ministry seems more fruitful.
The apostle Paul sets before us a beautiful picture of ministry contentment. If anyone had been bruised and battered by ministry, he had. Besides the whippings and shipwrecks and imprisonments, besides the conflict in and among the churches, besides the exhaustion of overseeing the various ministries, he had also been left to finish his course alone. And even so, he kept his soul:
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.
1 Timothy 1:12-13
Nathan Writes 