One of the best books that I read in 2015 was Eugene Peterson’s book The Contemplative Pastor. More specifically, that book contained one of the best chapter’s that I have ever read. Under the section entitled “The Unbusy Pastor,” I read about the scandal that is the busy life. Consider this excerpt:
“The poor man,” we say. “He’s so devoted to his flock: the work is endless, and he sacrifices himself so unstintingly.” But the word busy is the symptom not of commitment but of betrayal. It is not devotion but defection. The adjective busy set as a modifier to pastor should sound to our ears like adulterous to characterize a wife or embezzling to describe a banker. It is an outrageous scandal, a blasphemous affront.” (pg. 17)
Paragraphs like that are not soon forgotten. Those words contained an almost perfect description of me. Is that you as well? Truth like that will make many a pastor do some proverbial pew grabbing. Peterson’s words got me thinking about other areas in Christian ministry in which pastors are prone to default. The application I want to highlight today is that of the lonely pastor. Could Eugene’s ideas about the busy pastor be applied similarly to the lonely pastor? Would I be correct to say that the word “lonely” is the symptom, not of commitment, but of the pastor’s betrayal? Or could we say, “The adjective lonely set as a modifier to pastor should sound to our ears like adulterous to characterize a wife or embezzling to describe a banker?” I think so.
In a first-world culture, false pastoral significance is tied up in silly things like loneliness. The pastor will do anything he can to self-justify the significance of the work. Statements like, “busyness and loneliness are just a part of the call into ministry” reveal a weird kind of martyr complex. Could this loneliness thing be a scandal of equal equivalence?
I have seen it countless times. Pastors get just enough accountability to make a defense of having accountability. Yet many of those same pastors, who say they have accountability, simultaneously confess that they are lonely. Multiple pastors have confessed to be that they have few or no real friends. This is unacceptable. There is a better way.
The narrative found Acts 20:17-38 gives us insight into Paul’s pastoral example. Read that passage of scripture and ask yourself “Was Paul a lonely pastor?” I am sure, at times, Paul experienced loneliness. When he was shipwrecked at sea I imagine Paul felt very deeply his aloneness. But was that the norm? When Paul said in Phil 2:27 about his friend Epaphroditus, “Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only him but on me also, lest I should have sorry upon sorrow.” Was Paul a man who lived as an island? Paul could take a lot of things, but God spared him the sorrow of losing his friend Epaphroditus. Paul understood the Gospel. The Gospel reconciles sinners to God and redeemed sinners to each other. Pastor friend, if you are always lonely it may be the result of a functional denial of the Gospel of Jesus. You have been saved into a family. You now have brothers. The outworking of that belief is living it out. How about becoming best friends with your elders? Why not try getting to know your deacons? Reject loneliness as a normal accompaniment with shepherding.
Here are a few questions and comments to consider…
- Is your loneliness a fruit of the root sin of rejecting the corporate work of the Gospel?
- Is your loneliness tied into your functional rejection of the priesthood of all believers? “They just can’t understand.”
- Why don’t you have good friends? It’s not because you are introverted. It’s because of sin. Do you believe that? How can you Biblically justify having no friends?
- Have you considered the results of living a thousand miles wide and an inch deep in your relationships? Instead of following you as you follow Christ, your people will follow you into shallow living.
- How does the finished work of Christ help you to gain true friendships?
- Remember Romans 8:1. Just a thought: break out of loneliness by talking to your elders about that verse. The Gospel is the foundation of our brotherhood and the pathway into experiencing that brotherhood.
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