{"id":34,"date":"2012-01-18T09:01:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T17:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill.s145273.gridserver.com\/?p=34"},"modified":"2012-01-18T09:01:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-18T17:01:00","slug":"the-weight-of-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"The Weight of Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Since stepping out of ministry i\u2019ve questioned whether or not I want to go back\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not gonna lie. It\u2019s been nice being out from underneath the weight of ministry. I feel normal, healthy\u2026 free.\u00a0When people ask me what I do for a living, our conversations no longer come to a screeching halt.<\/p>\n

Those who are in ministry know exactly what I\u2019m talking about when I say \u201cweight\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

For those who don\u2019t let me quickly explain: There\u2019s no other job like ministry. It\u2019s the most rewarding, joy filled, draining, tiring, and emotional job i\u2019ve ever had\u2026 Students and parents, dealing and struggling through depression, anxiety, thoughts of suicide, divorce, infidelity, abuse\u2026 these seem to be the norm in our local churches.<\/p>\n

Though, I say this sensitively<\/em>, those issues at times felt like the easier side of ministry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The weight of preaching\/teaching God\u2019s word, reaching out to lost, speaking to, long time church goers, that luke warm christianity was not what God has intended for us\u2026 this was probably one of the hardest parts of ministry. The weight at times would be almost\u00a0unbearable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

Willow Creek reports that \u201cover 70% of pastors, struggle with depression on a consistent basis.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mark Driscol<\/a> defines the responsibility of teaching as, \u201cTerrifying\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anson McMahon <\/a>(pastor in Georgia), says, \u201chaving the title as pastor, elder, or overseer, is an incredibly big deal, and taking it lightly is incredibly foolish\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paul says<\/a>, \u201cKeep a close watch on yourself and your teaching, by so doing you\u2019ll save both yourself and your hearers\u2026<\/em>\u201c\u00a0<\/p>\n

I mean if I believe that those who don\u2019t believe in Christ as their Lord and Saviour will enter into eternal punishment, and I genuinely love them, am I not going to say whatever God commands? However the spirit leads? Will one not feel such a burden?<\/p>\n

Point being, ministry is a weighty, heavy responsibility. (<\/strong>This might shine clarity on why Jonah ran, Jeremiah questioned, and Moses stated, I will not go unless you go before me\u2026\u201d)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since i\u2019ve been out of doing church work and slowed down in my speaking. I\u2019ve had a ton of down time, and the only way I can explain it is, \u201cIt feels like a 500 pound weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really no secret as C.S. Lewis puts is simply, \u201cChristianity is both hard and easy\u2026\u201d<\/strong> In the same way so is being a pastor. So is following Jesus. <\/em><\/p>\n

Self mortification is both hard and easy. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m gonna end the post here, mainly because this is where my thought process has ended. Things are still in the air for me. I\u2019m not sure if I\u201dm going to return to ministry. I\u2019m not sure if I\u201dm going to continue speaking\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cPicking up your cross and following Jesus\u2026 it\u2019s simply a better life, than anything else you\u2019ll strive after.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Have you ever had a break from ministry and questioned whether or not to go back?\u00a0Pastors, church goers, lay pastors, what\u2019re you thoughts, what\u2019re your experiences?\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since stepping out of ministry i\u2019ve questioned whether or not I want to go back\u2026\u00a0 I\u2019m not gonna lie. It\u2019s been nice being out from underneath the weight of ministry. I feel normal, healthy\u2026 free.\u00a0When people ask me what I do for a living, our conversations no longer come to a screeching halt. Those who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2493,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Weight of Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Since stepping out of ministry i’ve questioned whether or not I want to go back…\u00a0 I’m not gonna lie. It’s been nice being out from\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Weight of Ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since stepping out of ministry i’ve questioned whether or not I want to go back…\u00a0 I’m not gonna lie. It’s been nice being out from\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-18T17:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/\",\"name\":\"The Weight of Ministry\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-18T17:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-01-18T17:01:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/4db132075291b01585ac509973439e59\"},\"description\":\"Since stepping out of ministry i’ve questioned whether or not I want to go back…\u00a0 I’m not gonna lie. It’s been nice being out from\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Weight of Ministry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/\",\"name\":\"Andy Gill\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/4db132075291b01585ac509973439e59\",\"name\":\"Andy Gill\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd242f2de7cb0eb5e7189ccb783e0b63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd242f2de7cb0eb5e7189ccb783e0b63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andy Gill\"},\"description\":\"Andy Gill has studied theology for two years in Princeton and graduating from Eastern University stepped into pastoral ministry in southern California. His passion is to communicate on topics such as the pursuit of justice, equality, and how that interacts with one\u2019s faith and theology. Currently he resides in Philadelphia and works with youth. He consults and utilizes social media as medium to share these messages. Andy has been featured on sites such as RELEVANT Magazine, Red Letter Christians, ThoughtCatalog, and various other platforms. You can find him tweeting daily, and writing weekly at his personal blog - feel free to follow along by liking his Facebook page.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/author\/agill\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Weight of Ministry","description":"Since stepping out of ministry i’ve questioned whether or not I want to go back…\u00a0 I’m not gonna lie. It’s been nice being out from","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Weight of Ministry","og_description":"Since stepping out of ministry i’ve questioned whether or not I want to go back…\u00a0 I’m not gonna lie. It’s been nice being out from","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/","og_site_name":"Andy Gill","article_published_time":"2012-01-18T17:01:00+00:00","author":"Andy Gill","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andy Gill","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/","name":"The Weight of Ministry","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-01-18T17:01:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-01-18T17:01:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/4db132075291b01585ac509973439e59"},"description":"Since stepping out of ministry i’ve questioned whether or not I want to go back…\u00a0 I’m not gonna lie. It’s been nice being out from","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-weight-of-ministry\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Weight of Ministry"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/","name":"Andy Gill","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/4db132075291b01585ac509973439e59","name":"Andy Gill","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd242f2de7cb0eb5e7189ccb783e0b63?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd242f2de7cb0eb5e7189ccb783e0b63?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Andy Gill"},"description":"Andy Gill has studied theology for two years in Princeton and graduating from Eastern University stepped into pastoral ministry in southern California. His passion is to communicate on topics such as the pursuit of justice, equality, and how that interacts with one\u2019s faith and theology. Currently he resides in Philadelphia and works with youth. He consults and utilizes social media as medium to share these messages. Andy has been featured on sites such as RELEVANT Magazine, Red Letter Christians, ThoughtCatalog, and various other platforms. You can find him tweeting daily, and writing weekly at his personal blog - feel free to follow along by liking his Facebook page.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/author\/agill\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2493"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}