So, What Is The Solution?

I want to be clear at the outset, I have had my dark days in ministry. I have been called about everything in the book and some words that had syllable combinations that I did not know you do that in the English language. Yes, the foundations of my character and life’s work has been attacked by people who profess the same Lord I serve. These experiences were all pre-COVID. For ministers that are still in the trenches on the frontline attempting to become videographers, IT experts, looking into a camera instead of people’s faces, while portraying they have it all together and exclaiming “I have it all together”. I give you permission to say; It’s just hard!

YES, it is hard! You did not go Seminary and learn the functions and tools of operating in this environment. You and every other minister were not prepared either. I recall a statement from Chuck Swindoll in the earliest days of my ministry and the beginning days of Insight For Living radio program, Swindoll made this claim; “If you want to be relevant, speak to the hurting, there on every pew in the church. We are broken people ministering to the broken. That is hard many days without the added burden of layered disruptions.

So, what is the solution? Answer: I really do not know! But here is what I do know – you are not alone!. Christianity Today recently wrote an article about ministerial grief in a pandemic. This is worth the time to read. This is a season for us to remain human not super-saints. The human touch may feel like the old “dial-up” technology of yester-year, but it is however, what we are called to do. So, here is what I know.

It is OK to not have the answers. No one does.

It is OK to stumble clumsily through your video transitions.

It is OK to wish you were more prepared.

It is OK if people leave the church. We are a sending movement not a keeping movement.

It is OK to run out of energy during the week. Take time to rest!

It is OK to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and charge hard into the game. This may not be that time – listen to your body rhythms and your breathing. Basic health care will keep your heart rate down and oxygen levels up.

It is OK to GRIEVE. Grief is the off ramp on the highway of life. Make sure that you help people embrace this fact. Always show them the on-ramp!Today and every day PRAY for your spiritual leaders! Call them by name! Engage some “dial-up” ministry – call them or send a hand-written note of encouragement.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

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