People actually do studies of the world’s most dangerous jobs.

Here’s a list I found in my research for my introduction to my sermon this week in chapel at the Seminary.

8. Roofers
7. Power Line Technicians
6. Farmers and Ranchers
5. Waste Management Workers
4. Structural Construction Workers
3. Loggers
2. Airline pilots and crew
1. Fishermen (a la Dangerous Catch)

In some parts of the world, being a pastor could be life-threatening. But even in the parts of the world that have religious freedom, the ministry is a dangerous job. Check these statistics (thanks to Into Thy Word ministries):

  • Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
  • Fifty percent of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce.
  • Eighty percent of pastors feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastor.
  • Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
  • Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.

I don’t have statistics about missionaries or youth pastors, but I am convinced that people who are in the ministry full time need our prayers and encouragement.

So stop what you’re doing right now and send an email of encouragement to someone you know in the ministry. Go get a card for your pastor or youth pastor. Tell him that what he does is valuable and that you are praying for him.

(Photo by: Laura Travels on flickr)