Pastors are Embodied
The things that contribute to pastoral burnout, to me, are very simple. It’s an inattentiveness to one’s capacity, one’s ability. It’s maybe taking on false notions of what you are called to do as a pastor. Maybe you grow the church to a certain amount or have a certain kind of budget or building plan or something like this, when that may not be what the Lord is calling you or your church to.
It’s concerning yourself with those things rather than concerning yourself with what’s in front of you and what you’re able to accomplish in your own gifting and capacity. I think a lot of times we overextend ourselves in those ways. We take on false identities about what a pastor is meant to be, maybe because of someone we saw on a conference stage and thought, Well, I need to be that way. Or maybe it’s because of a book that we read that seemed to guilt us into thinking this is how the pastorate should be. Instead, we should be truly leaning into what our gifts truly are—and being okay.
Embodiment is very crucial to understanding how to be a good pastor.
I think another thing that really contributes to pastoral burnout is practical questions like, Are we sleeping well? Are we exercising and getting outside? Are we eating things that are actually good for our body? Embodiment is very crucial to understanding how to be a good pastor.
A lot of times pastors sort of see themselves as this sacrificial offering to their churches, and they burn out. That’s not good for anybody. That’s not good for that person, that’s not good for their family, and that’s certainly not good for the church. And part of the modeling of a pastor is to say, “Here’s how you exist as a human. You have limitations. You are human.”
And with that in mind, we need to take care of ourselves as humans who primarily rely on the Lord for these things, yet demonstrate that reliability by saying, “I can only do so much.”
Coleman M. Ford is coauthor with Shawn J. Wilhite of Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls: Learning the Art of Pastoral Ministry from the Church Fathers.
Coleman M. Ford (PhD, Southern Seminary) is an assistant professor of humanities at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He serves as a fellow for the Center for Pastor Theologians. He is also the codirector and research fellow for the Center for Ancient Christian Studies. He also serves as an assistant pastor. He is published in the areas of patristic theology and Christian spirituality.
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