Heartaches In The Ministry

I used to listen to pastors speak of all they encountered while pastoring. All of them spoke of how it was a privilege to preach the gospel, and that, they desired to do nothing else but preach. They would speak of all of the joys they had in their ministry, but they also spoke about the heartaches that they often suffered. I was a young preacher at the time and could not understand what heartaches could be associated with pastoring a church.

After ten years in the ministry I now understand what they meant by heartaches in the ministry. As pastor of a New Testament church you pray for the members daily, you prepare lessons from God's Word that they might be edified, you provide for them in times of need a shoulder to cry on, and are always ready to listen to them. Pastors have a genuine love for the members of the church they pastor, a compassion, a heart of sympathy and empathy.

In a former pastorate I was given a letter by a member. This member was one whom I respected a great deal, one of those members that pastors love to have because they could teach and be a help in the ministry. The letter ripped my heart out, and while I tried to find some amount of truth within its content, all I found was criticism.

My first reaction was sadness, then anger,and then, well my emotions were as a roller coaster with no end. The letter attacked me as a person, as a pastor, my family, my hobbies, likes and dislikes. I found that I was not respected as a pastor or a person. I made it a priority to read the letter daily. I felt that there was something within its pages that could give evidence as to why this person felt as they did.

After a while I realized that the letter was the result of sin. The writer admitted that they were in a spiritual slump, and while the slump was blamed on me it was evident that things present in their life at that time had prompted the letter. Many times when we are hurting, or when we do not understand something, we lash out at others. And while my heart ached I realized that the writer did not need my reproving or rebuking, but my prayers.

The Bible teaches that LOVE covers a multitude of sins. 1 Corinthians 13 reveals what love does. Nothing bad comes from love. Was the letter a result of love? No, but preachers just because we are not loved by church members as much as we feel we should be, we should never stop loving them. We are supposed to be the spiritually mature one. Therefore let all God called preachers, when we face heartaches in the ministry, let us allow the love of Jesus to be spread abroad in our hearts. Let us never, no matter what we face in the ministry, stop loving, caring, praying for or preparing lessons from God's Word, for the edification of our brethren.

Though heartaches may come in the work of the Lord, there is no greater work. I cannot think of anything else I would rather do, save preachng the gospel of Jesus Christ and pastoring God's churches.