The Danger of Aiming Too High
What happens to pastors who push themselves harder than God asks.
Louis McBurney with David McCasland
July 1, 1984
During the past decade, I've counseled scores of pastors whose lives could best be described by Datsun's phrase We are driven! Remember the commercials? Little pickups airborne over crests of hills. 280-Z's eating curves. The advertising agency packed a world of meaning into those three words. It may be a great slogan for an automaker, but it's a danger sign for pastors propelled by unrealistic expectations. Many ministers today are headed toward the mental, physical, and spiritual salvage yard because they expect too much of themselves. And most do not have a clear idea of the forces driving them to that tragic end. Forces on the Accelerator
Part of the problem lies in the nature of the call to the ministry, a call to exemplary conduct as well as unselfish service. Yes, there are legitimate demands upon Christian leaders to model what they preach. Paul's instructions to Timothy are clear concerning the qualifications of elders and deacons. Yet some pastors take these scriptural foundations and construct an elaborate structure of personal expectations far beyond the Architect's intention. Not many admit it, but the bottom line they have drawn for themselves comes pretty close to being divine. If they have spiritual doubts or family problems, they feel guilty. Simply put, they do not permit themselves to be human. Another contributor to a driven life is the nature of helping professions. Trying to preach a sermon of challenge and hope, most pastors are assailed by the faces of people who have confided incredible stories of tragedy and heartache. Pastors can carry heavy loads, but there's a point at which it becomes too much. Needs of the congregation combine with the pastor's own need to be needed, pushing the load beyond the ...
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