Top 10 Reasons Why Ministers Quit: #8

Here is the 8th reason why ministers quit the ministry:

The Demands of Moral Excellence

Better believe it ~ the preacher faces and struggles with temptations of lust, sex, porn, alcohol, drugs, gambling, anger, greed, and other breeds of sensual pleasure.

But though some church members are quick to jump to the privilege of setting the preacher straight on just about any issue, they really have no clue just how much the minister struggles to cling to his status as the moral strong man of the flock.

Because the preacher is the one who stands as God’s mouthpiece to show and tell others how to live the godly life, he becomes a beacon of moral excellence to his people. As such, he dares not respond to people, things and situations as others are free to do. And if he does respond like any other person, there is a magnified reaction to him from those he leads.

Sometimes the minister must watch his spouse be mistreated, maligned or ostracized by church members, or the preacher's kids may be singled out and sidelined by their peers.

At some point, in fact, at many points, the preacher may feel incompetent or sinful, even if he is an excellent preacher, teacher, pastor, counselor or good moral template.

Next, he begins to doubt himself, second-guess himself, query himself. “Am I really called by God? Am I cut out for this? Did I receive adequate training? Should I be going back to school? Do I really know what I’m doing? Perhaps I should seek education in a different field just in case. May be I should get out of the way and let someone else do this, someone who can do a far better job.”

Now, because he is first and foremost a moral authority, every feeling of incompetence feels like moral failure in the minister’s mind. And moral failure is the one thing every minister dreads and no minister can survive.