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Confessions of a Bi/Vo Pastor – Part One
As I mentioned in the intro to this blog series, being a bi-vocational (bi/vo) pastor is tough but possible. I’m quite certain many church leaders lack steel it takes to make it as a bi/vo. But the ones that do, they are modern-day gladiators if you ask me.
Here are just a handful of things I love about bi/vo’s I’ve met:
- It’s obvious their ministry is based on a calling and not a career because there’s no way anyone would volunteer for this.
- You know they would lead their church for free because, well, most of them do.
- They can relate better with the rest of the church in dealing with the grind of work in the real world outside the comfy confines of a church staff and church walls.
- They are hard workers…they have to be.
- They’re missionaries in every sense of the word. Missional must be more than a buzz word; it’s a way of life.
- They’re constantly being tested, refined, and sharpened.
- Their preaching must come out of the overflow of what God’s doing in their lives because they don’t have time to segregate their personal lives from their ministry.
- Despite being under-appreciated, and sometimes disrespected, they press on in perverseness.
- They find themselves being the pastor at work to people who have no churches.
- They are warriors, champions, and heroes in every sense of the word. They’re reward isn’t in some sort of weird Christian Hollywood fame or popularity contest, but in the well-done good and faithful servant that’s awaiting them at the finish line.
(Note: Somewhere a full-time pastor is reading this and thinking I don’t think these apply to them. You would be wrong. I’m just honoring these unsung heroes.)
As a bi/vo myself, I can attest to the fact that there are also some real dangers in going this route. Dangers, that if left unchecked, will blow up in your face.
See if any of these describe you:
- You’re maxed out with very little margin in your life.
- You are tired and lack energy…a lot.
- You’ve gained weight.
- Your family is annoyed when you bust out your laptop all the time.
- Things bother you more than they should.
- As hard as you try not to, you get jealous or envious of full-time pastors and church planters (although they’re often jealous of you…go figure).
- You battle discouragement more than you should.
- You get sick more often.
- All of your thoughts are consumed with ministry. Even on your “Sabbath Day” or date night.
- Your friendships are mostly ministry-related because that’s all you have time for.
- Your sex life with your spouse sucks.
- The song “Breakdown” by Jack Johnson is your theme song.
Any of those hit home?
Welcome to the club.
Not just the bi/vo club, but the pastor’s club.
I’ve gone through (or am going through) several of these myself.
So what are we to do about this? (Other than reading Anne Jackson’s new book, Mad Church Disease)
I suggest there are four things (besides Christ and our calling) that we need have in order to enjoy this journey and not just survive it. In true Rick Warren fashion, and at the risk of being cheesy, we’ll use an acronym to break this down.
For our purposes, we’ll use B.I.V.O. Which I’ll introduce in the next blog post.
For now, what are some dangers you’re seeing in your own life? How are you coping with the demands of leading a family, a church, and a gig? What do you love about bi/vo’s or being a bi/vo?
By the way, I think I may have come up with a better name for bivocational pastor. I’ll save it for later in this series.
Tweet This!6 Responses to “Confessions of a Bi/Vo Pastor – Part One”
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Totally resonating with a few of those! My wife and I just had a date night last night and we struggled to find something other than church to talk about. Thanks for your openness and honesty! And the ministry related friendships WOW is that totally true or what!
By the way we on for lunch this Wednesday to Talk about PJ speaking?
Thanks again cant wait for the rest of this series!
You almost forgot about coming up with the time to write interesting blogs like this one. So you just link to good ones like I am about to do…
@Clay- I just sent you a message.
@Nathan – Thanks for visiting the site. I’m glad this series is connecting with you and hope the rest of it will be beneficial.
Dude, you are getting way to good at this blogging thing. Write a book or something!
[...] part one of this series, I mentioned there are at least four things (besides Christ and your calling) you need to be [...]
Great post Jason.
I appreciate the encouragement and I can totally relate to the struggles and challenges. I remember someone once told me that all pastors used to be BIVO – it’s just the way it always was until fairly recently (historically speaking). That thought encourages me too…keep up the good work bro!
Sean