There is a myth we deluded ourselves into believing. Either is it a myth about ourselves if we are a pastor or about our pastor(s) if we are not. These myths have, in many ways, directly or indirectly led to unhealthy ministries, lives and families and even to pastoral burn out. This myth is the myth of the “Indefatigable Pastor.” In other words, it is the myth that the pastor is super-human and not able to ever be exhausted or get tired. We can believe that sleep, recreation, times of recharging are luxuries for the pastor, where in fact, it is a necessity to a healthy and vibrant ministry.

We have relatively little recorded in Scripture on the life of Jesus, so what is recorded we have to understand as important enough for the gospel writers to remember, recall, and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, record. Have you ever noticed how many times in these recorded incidents that Jesus goes away to rest and connect with his Father?

Jesus, the perfect Son of God, needed to rest.

Jesus didn’t do everything humanly possible in the sense that he didn’t heal everyone or speak at every request. Jesus did, however, do everything that was humanly healthy, as he lived a perfectly balanced life and ministry that too many of us, as pastors, forget about and even consciously reject in our volitionally chosen busy schedules and calendars. I am not opposed to hard work, but unhealthy busyness is just that, unhealthy and consequently unsustainable.