Men around the country are leaving the ministry. What has led to the burnout and dropouts? Last week, Collin Hansen spoke to seasoned pastor, Tom Nelson, on the Gospelbound podcast. In his new book, The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership, Nelson suggests that though pastors work with the things of God, they are tempted by accomplishment at the expense of intimacy with him. 

In the interview, Nelson said that many of the paradigms that frame the way we think about pastoral leadership can deform us. So rather than imagining the pastor of a local church as a celebrity, lone ranger, or visionary, we should first and foremost think of pastors as Christ-followers:

I’m just really convinced that the best way to guard against going off the rails is to be very closely yoked to Jesus. And one of my great texts that I love is Matthew 11,  where Jesus says, “Come to me all who are weary.  I will give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me, for I am humble and gentle of heart and you’ll find rest for your soul” [vv. 28–29]. So a passionate goal to not only be a shepherd, but to be shepherded well in our own life is the key.

Shepherd leaders, according to Nelson, are forged on the anvil of obscurity and refined in the crucible of visibility. They get into trouble when they attend more to the church than to their own heart.