{"id":12938,"date":"2008-08-14T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-14T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2008\/08\/14\/great-is-thy-effectiveness2\/"},"modified":"2008-08-14T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T23:03:16","slug":"great-is-thy-effectiveness2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/great-is-thy-effectiveness2\/","title":{"rendered":"Great is Thy Effectiveness?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t

Something’s wrong. We pastors are the stewards, the spokespeople, the advocates of a message of hope, life, and peace. And yet so few of us seem to be experiencing these qualities in our own lives. Something’s wrong. In a world saturated with fear, insecurity, and stress, we are to show a different way. And yet those at the center of the church are burning out and leaving ministry at a rate of 1,500 per month. If that’s what’s occurring at the heart of the church, why would anyone on the fringe want to move in closer?<\/p>\n\t\t

I’ve just read an article by two Christian counselors about the soul-killing impact of church ministry on leaders. (The statistic above comes from them.) They note that the pressure to grow the church is a significant factor leading to pastoral burn out. And some pastors “admitted they promoted growth models that were incongruent with their values because of a desperate need to validate their pastoral leadership.” It seems too many of us have our identities wrapped up in the measurable outcomes of our work rather than in the life-giving love of the Christ we proclaim. Something’s wrong.<\/p>\n\t\t

\n\t\tClick here<\/a> to continue reading.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Something’s wrong. We pastors are the stewards, the spokespeople, the advocates of a message of hope, life, and peace. And yet so few of us seem to be experiencing these qualities in our own lives. Something’s wrong. In a world saturated with fear, insecurity, and stress, we are to show a different way. And yet Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[3014],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[160],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[156],"tax_ctp_tags":[3445,3532,3609,4822,4867,5086],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-12938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-skye-jethani","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-assessment","tax_ctp_tags-burnout","tax_ctp_tags-church-growth","tax_ctp_tags-rest","tax_ctp_tags-sabbath","tax_ctp_tags-stress"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nGreat is Thy Effectiveness? - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta 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