Voices: Taking care of yourself in the ministry

NOTE: This is the first article in a six-part series.

Pastor, how are you doing? No, really, how are you doing in each area of your life?

How would you rate your well-being and level of functioning physically, intellectually, emotionally, relationally and spiritually? Of these areas, which stands out to you?

These are questions about self-care.

What comes to mind when I mention self-care? What is your automatic reaction, and in what ways do you tend to think about the subject? Some commons responses follow.

Self-care is “soft.” You may think: “Only sissies think about and need to attend to such things. Just keep going.” I suspect this is opinion about self-care is more prevalent with older ministers.

Self-care is theologically or biblically inappropriate. Some may feel the Bible calls us to serve selflessly in such a way that attending to self is antithetical to Scripture and the sacrifice of kingdom ministry.

I know what needs attention, and I don’t want more guilt. If this is you, I hope to encourage you rather than shaming you into action.

Some things need attention, and I would like to deal with them. I suspect many of us would respond this way. We may face some barrier, need a better plan or feel we simply cannot make those areas a priority right now.

Conceptualizing self-care

I conceptualize the issue of self-care in several ways I believe are consistent with Scripture and the realities of daily life. The following are some of the ways I conceptualize self-care.

Stewardship. For me, everything is a matter of stewardship. God created and owns all that is, and he has entrusted it to us for our use according to his guidance with accountability to him. How I handle my physical, intellectual, emotional, relational and spiritual well-being is a matter of stewardship.

Worship. Romans 12:1-2 tells us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices as worship to God. Further, Malachi 1 tells us to offer God the best sacrifice we can. So, if we are offering ourselves and our service to God as worship, we need to be at our best, so we give him our best.

Continuation and quality. We want to be able to serve God and others with quality for as long as God intends. If we do not care for ourselves and maintain our well-being, both the longevity and the quality of our ministry will suffer.

Appropriate attention. As we think about self-care, we need to avoid the extreme of neglecting it on one hand and allowing the focus on self-care or a specific part of it to dominate our attention on the other.

Ministry is work, and we have to avoid half-stepping in the name of self-care, while simultaneously guarding against failure resulting from not taking care of our well-being.

Five areas of self-care

There are five main areas of self-care. For each area, ask yourself what self-care involves in your life, which area you focus on most, and where your current trajectory in that area will lead you.

Although I have attempted not to borrow from others’ work in what follows, I have been exposed to this combination of self-care elements—and in the order presented—during training through Tarrant Baptist Association in Fort Worth. They adapted material from Tom Paterson’s Living the Life You Were Meant to Live.

I also have been exposed to several of these aspects of self-care in material used for ministry student coursework by Vicki Vaughn while teaching at Howard Payne University.

Physical. This area includes the totality of our bodily function and well-being.

Intellectual. This is the mental aspect of our being, from overall mental acuity and study for our vocation to nonvocational interests.

Emotional. Are you aware of your emotions, and do you have a biblical and appropriate emotional response to people and situations?

Relational. How are your relationships with family members, church members and friends? Do you have a sense of well-being in this aspect of your life?

Spiritual. As ministers, we may assume ministry work nourishes us spiritually, but we can become empty if we do not replenish our souls.

Questions to ask yourself

I think about self-care like I think about the truck I drive. It needs regular care and preventative maintenance. From time to time, something breaks or wears out, and it needs special attention. I want to enjoy driving it for a long time. So, there are things I need to do along the way—some in response to the truck’s indicators, but most of them before a warning light ever comes on.

1. What areas in your life could use attention, because you know it needs work for you to be your best for God?
2. What aspects of your life, if unaddressed, will produce results you do not want?
3. What obstacles prevent giving attention to your well-being?
4. What would help you overcome these obstacles?
5. What assumptions get in the way of adequate self-care in your life?
6. In each of the five areas, what is one thing you want to be able to say 90 days from now you cannot say today?

Ron Danley is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Jefferson. This article is adapted from his blog series on self-care. The views expressed are those of the author.