To aspire to the pastoral ministry is a noble thing (I Tim. 3:1), but not many should pursue it (Jas. 3:1). Mark Driscoll shares some sobering statistics on pastors and depression.
Heb. 13:17
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
The list begins with:
1. Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
2. Fifty percent of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce.
3. Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
4. Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
(HT: Justin Buzzard)