The Most Dangerous Day of the Week for Pastors

If you are in any kind of ministry, leadership role, or work in a local church setting, Monday is probably the most vulnerable day of the week for you. This is the day you are most susceptible to temptation, pride, irritability, fatigue, and discouragement. If there is one thing I know about Mondays in ministry, it’s simply this; after God uses me on Sunday, Satan and my flesh will come against me on Monday.

Sunday is game day for ministers. It’s more than just going to church and enjoying the services; it’s the high point of the week. Sunday is the day when it all comes together or fails to come together; the lesson, the sermon, the conversations, the meal afterward with a family, the anticipation of what attendance will be, will we make budget, and what the response will be to the gospel. The stress and pressure can literally beat a minister to the ground, but the strange irony is that it can also create within us an excitement that energizes us for the assignment. It is actually the stress and adrenaline that do both; they motivate us to carry through and then they cause us to crash and burn both emotionally and physically. Many ministers have no idea why they feel the way they feel on Monday. They think they’re just tired. It is so much more than that. If Sunday is the high point of the week, then Mondays are the low point of the week.

Physically, your body is wound up all day on Sunday, and if you are preaching more than one service, it’s compounded. The chemicals in your body are raging; adrenaline, endorphins and dopamine give you the boost you need to get it done. Then Sunday night rolls around, the big day is over and now is in the past, and your body is filled with the residue of these chemicals. Some ministers fall right asleep from exhaustion. Others can’t stop rehearsing the day in their minds and are up to the wee hours of the morning. Then when Monday morning comes rolling around (in just a few hours) you have to start preparing for next weekend all over again. We under a seven-day deadline every week of our lives.

Right after God uses you is when you are most vulnerable. Your guard is down and your defenses are weak. It seems counter-intuitive but it’s true. It could be a little pride in you from a successful day, or discouragement because the day fell short. It’s a real emotional roller coaster sometimes.

You can’t run on empty….. that’s why we need a Sabbath Day.