A Subtle Temptation those in Vocational Ministry Face

I’ve had the opportunity to work in various restaurants over the years. Depending on the day and the hours I worked, I could clock out feeling pretty exhausted. My legs are sore, my feet hurt, and I just need a minute to be alone.

While there is a wide range of ministries a Christian can vocationally work in, I find my ministry work to be primarily exhausting on the emotional level. Because of this, it can feel tempting to isolate and binge YouTube after a day of serving in youth ministry.

But whether the job is more physically, socially, or emotionally demanding, I’ve realized a subtle but very dangerous temptation. When working in ministry vocationally, it can feel almost natural to compartmentalize the call to love our neighbor as ourselves.

When elaborating who our neighbor is, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. A Jew is robbed on the road and left for dead. A priest and a Levite notice the robbed man and decide to avoid him. A Samaritan takes notice of the victim and cares for him. (Luke 10:25-37)

What makes this story shocking to Jesus’ audience is that the hero of the story was a man whose identity was seen as evil. Samaritans were apostates in their eyes. I agree with the popular consensus that the moral of the story is that the call to our neighbor extends to all, including our perceived enemies.

However, there’s a detail of the story I’m beginning to resonate with more. Jesus mentions two Jewish leaders ignoring the victim in need. This could be seen as part of the larger narrative of Jesus’ critique of the scribes and religious leaders at the time.

But what I think I have overlooked is how natural and possibly rational it may have seemed for two men who are in a vocational ministry to pass by someone in need.

Ministry can be exhausting when it’s planned out, so the idea of driving home after a long day and seeing someone on the side of the road in need can selfishly feel like an intrusion in my life. Without realizing how ridiculous it sounds, I may even make rationalizations in my head:

"I just spent my afternoon with a person going through a lot. I listened, I cared, and I’ll be seeing them again soon. I’ve done enough serving for the day.”

Loving and caring for those in need is not a daily quota, it is fruit that we bear consistently. It is a part of who we are as children of the Kingdom.

Our jobs do not give us our identity, and that includes those of us in ministry. If our identity is in Christ, the call to love our neighbor as ourselves cannot be compartmentalized into our job (or compartmentalized outside of our job).

Burn out in ministry is very real. Those of us in vocational ministry need to know our limitations. But may we never “clock out” of caring for the least of these.

Thumbnail Image: “Good Samaritan” by Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Roerich, 1943.