📖 Huduma za Kichungaji — Sehemu ya 11: Familia ya Mchungaji na Kujitunza📖 Pastoral Ministries — Unit 11: The Pastor's Family and Self-Care

UtanguliziOrientation

Wachungaji huchoka kupita kiasi hadi kuishiwa nguvu kabisa. Wachungaji huacha huduma. Wachungaji huanguka kimaadili. Wachungaji hupoteza ndoa zao. Wachungaji huwa wageni kwa watoto wao wenyewe. Wachungaji hufa mapema kwa magonjwa yanayoweza kuzuilika yanayosababishwa na msongo, usingizi duni, na ulaji mbaya. Wachungaji huamka wakiwa na miaka hamsini na kugundua kwamba wana huduma inayostawi na nyumba iliyo tupu.Pastors burn out. Pastors quit. Pastors fall morally. Pastors lose their marriages. Pastors become strangers to their own children. Pastors die early from preventable diseases caused by stress, poor sleep, and bad eating. Pastors wake up in their fifties and discover they have a thriving ministry and an empty home.

Matokeo haya ni ya kawaida kiasi kwamba kila programu ya kweli ya mafunzo ya kichungaji lazima iyashughulikie. Mchungaji hawezi kulitunza kundi ikiwa anajiangamiza mwenyewe. Hawezi kuongoza kanisa lenye afya kutoka katika maisha yasiyo na afya. Hawezi kutoa kutoka katika nafsi iliyo tupu. Sehemu hii inachunguza nidhamu za vitendo ambazo kwa hizo mchungaji analinda ndoa yake, watoto wake, mwili wake, nafsi yake, na ustahimilivu wake wa muda mrefu katika huduma.These outcomes are common enough that every honest pastoral training program must address them. The pastor cannot care for the flock if he is destroying himself. He cannot lead a healthy church out of an unhealthy life. He cannot give from an empty soul. This unit examines the practical disciplines by which a pastor protects his marriage, his children, his body, his soul, and his long-term endurance in ministry.

Sehemu hii inaweza kuonekana kuwa ya kitheolojia kidogo kuliko nyingine. Hivyo ndivyo ilivyokusudiwa. Wachungaji wengi wanayajua mafundisho. Ni wachache wanaozitekeleza nidhamu hizi. Nidhamu ndizo zinazomdumisha mtu katika huduma kwa miaka arobaini badala ya saba.The unit may feel less theological than the others. That is by design. Most pastors know the doctrine. Few practice the disciplines. The disciplines are what keep a man in ministry for forty years instead of seven.

I. Ndoa ya MchungajiI. The Pastor's Marriage

Huduma ya kwanza ya kila mchungaji aliyeoa ni kwa mke wake. Yeye alikuwepo kabla ya kanisa, na atakuwepo baada ya kanisa kuondoka. Miongoni mwa sifa ambazo Paulo anaziorodhesha kwa uongozi wa kichungaji, mojawapo ya za mwanzo kabisa ni hii: "Basi imempasa askofu awe mtu asiyelaumika, mume wa mke mmoja" (1 Timotheo 3:2). Vyovyote vile umuhimu wa nafasi yake katika orodha hiyo, kiini cha sifa hiyo kinasimama chenyewe: mtu asiyeweza kuitunza ndoa yake hawezi kuliongoza kanisa.The first ministry of every married pastor is to his wife. She came before the church did, and she will be there after the church is gone. Among the qualifications Paul lists for pastoral leadership, one of the earliest is this: "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2). Whatever significance its place in the list carries, the substance of the qualification stands on its own: the man who cannot keep his marriage cannot lead a church.

Mke wa mchungaji si mfanyakazi wa kanisa. Hakujiandikisha kuwa mkurugenzi asiyelipwa wa huduma ya wanawake, katibu wa kanisa, mpiga kinanda, na mwenyeji wa kila mmisionari anayetembelea. Alijiandikisha kuwa mke. Mchungaji mwaminifu anakataa kuliruhusu kanisa kumtwika mke wake matarajio ambayo si yake kuyabeba. Anaweza kuwa na karama na huduma zake mwenyewe, alizozichagua kwa hiari. Anaweza kuwa hana yoyote. Lolote kati ya hayo ni sawa. Mchungaji analinda haki yake ya kutambua, katika Bwana, kile Mungu anachomwita kufanya — si kile ambacho wake za mashemasi wanadhani anapaswa kufanya.The pastor's wife is not a staff member. She did not sign up to be the unpaid director of women's ministry, the church secretary, the pianist, and the hostess for every visiting missionary. She signed up to be a wife. The faithful pastor refuses to let the church load expectations onto his wife that are not hers to carry. She may have her own gifts and ministries, freely chosen. She may have none. Either is fine. The pastor protects her right to figure out, in the Lord, what God is calling her to — not what the deacons' wives think she should be doing.

Ndoa yenyewe inahitaji kukuzwa kwa makusudi. Usiku wa kawaida wa matembezi ya wawili ambao mchungaji anakataa kuughairisha kwa ajili ya shughuli za kanisa. Mawasiliano ya wazi kuhusu shinikizo za huduma, washiriki wagumu, wasiwasi wa kifedha, majaribu. Upendo wa kimwili usiowekwa chini ya uchovu. Ushirikiano wa kiroho — kuomba pamoja, kusoma Maandiko pamoja, kuhudhuria kanisa pamoja si kama mchungaji-na-mkewe bali kama mume-na-mke ambao wamekaa tu katika kiti chao wenyewe. Ndoa inayostawi katika huduma ni ndoa inayolishwa. Ndoa inayonyauka katika huduma ni ndoa inayochukuliwa kuwa jambo la kawaida tu.The marriage itself requires deliberate cultivation. A regular date night that the pastor refuses to cancel for church business. Honest communication about the pressures of ministry, the difficult members, the financial worries, the temptations. Physical affection that is not subordinated to exhaustion. Spiritual partnership — praying together, reading Scripture together, attending church together not as pastor-and-wife but as husband-and-wife who happen to be in their own pew. The marriage that thrives in ministry is the marriage that gets fed. The marriage that withers in ministry is the marriage that is taken for granted.

Niruhusu nishiriki jambo ambalo mara chache hulifundisha kwa nadharia, lakini naamini wachungaji wa baadaye wanahitaji kulisikia kutoka kwa mtu aliyelipitia. Nilikuwa nimeoana na mke wangu wa kwanza, Andi, kwa miaka arobaini na tano. Alikuwa mwenzangu katika huduma ya kichungaji, huduma ya uchungaji gerezani, ufundishaji wa seminari, na miongo mingi ya kutembea pamoja na Bwana. Takriban miaka kumi iliyopita alikwenda nyumbani kuwa pamoja na Bwana baada ya kupambana na saratani. Hakuna maandalizi katika seminari kwa ajili ya hasara hiyo. Mtu ambaye mke wake wa miaka arobaini na tano anakufa hugundua huzuni ni nini hasa, na hugundua maana ya kuendelea kutembea na Kristo katika bonde la uvuli wa mauti. Bwana hakuniacha katika miaka hiyo. Ndugu walionizunguka walinibeba. Neno ambalo nilikuwa nimelihubiri kwa miongo mingi lilinishikilia nilipohitaji kushikiliwa.Let me share something I rarely teach in the abstract, but I believe future pastors need to hear it from a man who has walked it. I was married to my first wife, Andi, for forty-five years. She was my partner through pastoral ministry, prison chaplaincy, seminary teaching, and decades of walking alongside the Lord. About ten years ago she went home to be with the Lord after a battle with cancer. There is no preparation in seminary for that loss. The man whose wife of forty-five years dies discovers what grief actually is, and he discovers what it means to keep walking with Christ through the valley of the shadow of death. The Lord did not abandon me in those years. The brothers around me carried me through. The Word that I had preached for decades held me when I needed holding.

Baada ya muda Bwana alimleta mwanamke mzuri wa Kimeksiko katika maisha yangu, nasi tukaoana. Watoto wake ni watoto wangu, na watoto wangu ni wake. Familia iliyounganishwa yenyewe ni picha ya neema ya Mungu — kwamba mtu aliyedhani sura moja ya maisha yake imekwisha anaweza kupewa msimu wa pili wa upendo na familia na huduma. Si kila mchungaji atapita njia hii hasa. Lakini kila mchungaji atakabiliwa na misimu inayobadilisha kila kitu, misimu ambayo ndani yake kitu pekee kilichobaki ni Injili ambayo amekuwa akiwahubiri wengine. Naandika haya ili kumtia moyo mchungaji yeyote anayeyasoma: misimu hiyo inapokuja, Kristo ambaye amekuwa somo lako kwa miaka mingi anakuwa kimbilio lako pekee. Yeye anatosha. Alinibeba. Atakubeba.In time the Lord brought a beautiful Mexican woman into my life, and we married. Her children are my children, and my children are hers. The blended family is itself a picture of God's grace — that a man who thought a chapter of his life had ended could be given a second season of love and family and ministry. Not every pastor will walk this particular road. But every pastor will face seasons that change everything, seasons in which the only thing left is the gospel he has been preaching to others. I write this to encourage any pastor reading it: when those seasons come, the Christ who has been your subject for years becomes your only refuge. He is sufficient. He carried me. He will carry you.

Nilichojifunza kupitia yote hayo ni kwamba agano la ndoa ni la kina zaidi sana kuliko picha ya starehe ya watu wawili wanaozeeka pamoja katika mstari usiokatika. Ni agano la watu wawili wanaotembea na Mungu, bega kwa bega, katika umbo lolote ambalo safari hiyo inachukua. Andi alipokuwa pamoja nami, nilijitahidi kumpa kilicho bora zaidi ndani yangu. Alipokwisha kuondoka, nilimwombolezea vizuri. Mungu alipomleta mke wangu wa pili, nilimpa tena moyo wangu wote. Mchungaji anayeishi hivi kupitia lolote ambalo Bwana anamgawia ndiye mchungaji anayemaliza vizuri.What I have learned through all of it is that the marriage covenant is far deeper than the comfortable picture of two people growing old together in an unbroken line. It is a covenant of two people walking with God, side by side, in whatever shape that walk takes. While Andi was with me, I tried to give her the best of myself. After she was gone, I grieved her well. When God brought my second wife, I gave her my whole heart again. The pastor who lives this way through whatever the Lord assigns him is the pastor who finishes well.

II. Watoto wa MchungajiII. The Pastor's Children

Watoto wa mchungaji hawakuchagua huduma. Walizaliwa ndani yake. Wito wa baba yao utaunda kila mwaka wa utoto wao — kwa baraka au kwa madhara. Mengi yanategemea iwapo mchungaji anaishughulikia nafasi hiyo kwa hekima.The pastor's children did not choose ministry. They were born into it. Their father's vocation will shape every year of their childhood — for blessing or for harm. A great deal depends on whether the pastor handles the role wisely.

Usemi "ugonjwa wa mtoto wa mhubiri" ("preacher's kid syndrome") upo kwa sababu fulani. Unahusu watoto wa wachungaji wanaokua wakilichukia kanisa kwa sababu kanisa daima liliwanyang'anya baba yao, wanaojenga utambulisho unaotegemea utendaji kwa sababu kila mtu alitarajia wawe mifano kamilifu ya utauwa, wanaoiacha imani katika miaka yao ya ishirini kwa sababu toleo la Ukristo walilouona nyumbani lilikuwa tupu.The phrase "preacher's kid syndrome" exists for a reason. It refers to children of pastors who grow up resenting the church because the church always took their father away from them, who develop performance-based identities because everyone expected them to be perfect examples of godliness, who walk away from the faith in their twenties because the version of Christianity they saw at home was hollow.

Matokeo haya si lazima yatokee. Ni matokeo ya makosa mahususi ambayo mchungaji anaweza kuyaepuka.These outcomes are not inevitable. They are the result of specific failures the pastor can avoid.

Kuwepo. Watoto wa mchungaji wanahitaji muda wake kuliko wanavyohitaji mahubiri yake. Mchungaji aliye kanisani usiku saba kwa wiki, hata akifanya mambo mema, atawapoteza watoto wake. Nidhamu ya kuwa nyumbani wakati wa chakula cha jioni siku nyingi, kuhudhuria matukio ya shule, kufundisha timu yao ya michezo, kusoma hadithi za kulala — nidhamu hiyo inazaa faida kwa maisha yote yaliyobaki ya watoto hao.Be present. The pastor's children need his time more than they need his sermons. A pastor who is at the church seven nights a week, even doing good things, will lose his children. The discipline of being home at dinner most nights, attending the school events, coaching the team, reading bedtime stories — that discipline pays dividends for the rest of those children's lives.

Usiwageuze kuwa silaha mimbarini. Kishawishi cha kutumia hadithi ya kuvutia kuhusu mtoto wako kama kielelezo cha hubiri ni cha kweli na cha hatari. Mtoto anakuwa na wasiwasi anapoingia kanisani, bila kujua kama leo ndiyo siku ambayo wakati wake wa faragha utakuwa burudani ya Jumapili asubuhi. Watoto wa mchungaji wanastahili faragha.Do not weaponize them in the pulpit. The temptation to use a clever story about your child as a sermon illustration is real and dangerous. The child becomes uneasy walking into church, never knowing if today will be the day his private moment becomes Sunday morning entertainment. The pastor's children deserve privacy.

Usidai utendaji. Watoto wako si nyongeza ya huduma yako. Watatenda dhambi. Watashindwa. Watapitia vipindi mbalimbali. Katika ujana wao, watakuaibisha. Mchungaji anayesisitiza kwamba watoto wake waiwakilishe huduma yake vizuri atazalisha watoto wanaojifunza kuigiza imani mbele ya watazamaji na kuipoteza mara tu wanapoondoka nyumbani.Do not demand performance. Your children are not extensions of your ministry. They will sin. They will fail. They will go through phases. They will, in adolescence, embarrass you. The pastor who insists his children represent his ministry well will produce children who learn to fake faith for an audience and lose it as soon as they leave home.

Waache waone Ukristo halisi nyumbani. Ukristo unaodumu ni Ukristo ambao watoto walimtazama baba yao akiuishi wakati hakuna mtu mwingine aliyekuwa akitazama. Walimwona akimwombea mke wake. Walimwona akisamehe alipokosewa. Walimwona akiomboleza wiki ngumu kwa uaminifu badala ya kuigiza. Walimwona akimpenda Yesu kwa sababu alimpenda Yesu, si kwa sababu ilikuwa kazi yake. Hiyo ndiyo imani inayodumu.Let them see real Christianity at home. The Christianity that survives is the Christianity the children watched their father live when no one else was watching. They saw him pray for his wife. They saw him forgive when wronged. They saw him grieve a hard week with honesty rather than performance. They saw him love Jesus because he loved Jesus, not because it was his job. That is the faith that lasts.

III. Mchungaji na SabatoIII. The Pastor and Sabbath

Yesu, katikati ya msimu wenye shughuli nyingi zaidi wa huduma yake duniani, aliwatazama wanafunzi wake waliochoka akasema, "Njoni ninyi wenyewe faraghani, mahali pasipokuwa na watu, mpumzike kidogo" (Marko 6:31). Alikuwa amesikia punde habari za kifo cha Yohana Mbatizaji. Makutano walikuwa wakisongamana. Mahitaji hayakuwa na mwisho. Yesu akasema: pumzikeni.Jesus, in the middle of the busiest season of His earthly ministry, looked at His exhausted disciples and said, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while" (Mark 6:31). He had just heard about John the Baptist's death. The crowds were pressing in. The needs were endless. Jesus said: rest.

Ikiwa Yesu aliyapa mapumziko kipaumbele katika huduma yake, mchungaji naye anapaswa kufanya hivyo. Iwapo amri ya nne inawafunga waumini wa Agano Jipya kama sheria mahususi ya Sabato ni jambo lenye kutokubaliana kwa kweli miongoni mwa Wakristo wa Kiinjili waaminifu — wengine wanashikilia kwamba Kristo aliitimiza na kuibadilisha Sabato badala ya kuiendeleza kama amri inayofunga (Wakolosai 2:16-17), wengine wanaona kanuni ya Sabato ya Kikristo ikiendelea kwa namna fulani. Vyovyote mtu atakavyohitimisha kuhusu swali hilo, hekima ya kanuni iliyo chini yake haina shaka: mchungaji asiyepumzika kamwe hathibitishi kujitoa kwake. Anajiandaa kuvunjika.If Jesus prioritized rest in His ministry, the pastor should too. Whether the fourth commandment binds New Testament believers as a specific Sabbath law is a matter of real disagreement among faithful evangelicals — some hold that Christ fulfilled and transformed the Sabbath rather than continuing it as a binding command (Colossians 2:16-17), others see a Christian Sabbath principle carrying forward in some form. Whatever one concludes on that question, the wisdom of the underlying principle is not in doubt: the pastor who never rests is not proving his devotion. He is setting himself up to break.

Sabato ya mchungaji si Jumapili. Jumapili ndiyo siku ya kazi yenye shughuli nyingi zaidi katika wiki yake. Siku ya busara ya kupumzika kila wiki ni siku nyingine — Jumatatu kwa wachungaji wengi, Ijumaa kwa wengine, siku yoyote inayofaa katika mdundo wa kanisa lake. Siku hiyo, hajifunzi kwa ajili ya mahubiri. Hajibu simu zisizo za dharura. Haangalii barua pepe. Hatembelei hospitali isipokuwa mtu anakufa. Anapumzika. Anatumia siku hiyo pamoja na mke wake na familia. Analala. Anaabudu bila taratibu rasmi. Anacheka. Anacheza. Anarejesha nguvu.The Sabbath for a pastor is not Sunday. Sunday is the busiest workday of his week. A wise weekly rest day is some other day — Monday for many pastors, Friday for others, whatever day works in the rhythm of his church. On that day, he does not study for sermons. He does not return non-emergency calls. He does not check email. He does not visit hospitals unless someone is dying. He rests. He spends the day with his wife and family. He sleeps. He worships informally. He laughs. He plays. He recovers.

Mchungaji anayelinda mdundo wa kila wiki wa kupumzika anajipa nafasi bora zaidi ya kuchunga akiwa na miaka sitini akiwa na nguvu zinazokaribiana na zile alizokuwa nazo akiwa na miaka thelathini. Mchungaji asiyepumzika kabisa ana uwezekano mkubwa zaidi wa kuwa tupu kabla ya miaka arobaini.The pastor who guards a weekly rhythm of rest gives himself the best chance of pastoring at sixty with something like the energy he had at thirty. The pastor who never rests at all is far more likely to be empty before forty.

IV. Urafiki wa MchungajiIV. The Pastor's Friendships

Huduma ya kichungaji inaweza kuwa na upweke wa kipekee. Urafiki na mashemasi wake unawezekana na mara nyingi ni mzuri, lakini mchungaji bado anabeba nafasi ambayo mashemasi wake hawana, na ni washiriki wachache wanaopaswa kufanywa kuwa msiri wake pekee kwa njia zinazowalemea au zinazohatarisha huduma yake. Hawezi kumwaga mapambano yake juu ya kusanyiko lake lote; wanamhitaji akiwa imara. Mke wake ni rafiki yake wa karibu zaidi, lakini mke peke yake hawezi kubeba mizigo yote ya mume. Mchungaji anahitaji marafiki.Pastoral ministry can be uniquely lonely. Friendship with his deacons is possible and often good, but the pastor still carries a role his deacons do not, and few congregants should be made his sole confessor in ways that burden them or compromise his ministry. He cannot dump his struggles on his congregation as a whole; they need him strong. His wife is his closest friend, but a wife alone cannot bear all of a husband's burdens. The pastor needs friends.

Marafiki hao kwa kawaida lazima watoke nje ya kanisa. Wachungaji wengine mara nyingi ndio wanaofaa zaidi — wanaume walio katika nafasi zinazofanana katika makusanyiko mengine au madhehebu mengine, ambao urafiki wa kweli wa rika moja unaweza kukua pamoja nao. Chakula cha mchana cha kila mwezi pamoja na ndugu wawili au watatu katika huduma, ambapo kila kitu kinaweza kusemwa kwa uwazi, ambapo maombi na kicheko na machozi vinaweza kutiririka bila kuigiza, kinaweza kumweka mchungaji katika akili timamu kupitia misimu migumu zaidi.The friends usually have to come from outside the church. Other pastors are often the best fit — men in similar roles in other congregations or other denominations, with whom genuine peer friendship can develop. A monthly lunch with two or three brothers in ministry, where everything can be said honestly, where prayer and laughter and tears can flow without performance, can keep a pastor sane through the hardest seasons.

Mchungaji asiye na marafiki wa namna hiyo yuko wiki moja mbaya tu mbali na kukata tamaa. Mchungaji aliye nao anapita katika wiki ngumu kwa sababu ndugu hao wanamwombea hadi avuke.The pastor who has no such friends is one bad week away from despair. The pastor who has them rides through hard weeks because the brothers are praying him through.

Uzoefu wangu kwa miongo mingi ni kwamba urafiki wa kweli katika huduma ni miongoni mwa zawadi kubwa zaidi za Mungu kwa watumishi wake. Baadhi ya wanaume niliowajua katika mazingira ya kichungaji, ya gerezani, na ya seminari wametembea kando yangu kwa miaka thelathini na zaidi. Tumezika wapendwa wa kila mmoja wetu, tumeombeana kupitia matokeo ya vipimo vya magonjwa na misimu ya giza, na tumecheka pamoja kwa mambo ya ajabu ya huduma. Bila ndugu hao, nisingekuwa nimesimama leo. Kila mchungaji anayesoma haya anahitaji kuwapata wanaume wake watatu au wanne na kamwe asiwaachilie.My experience over many decades is that genuine ministry friendships are among God's greatest gifts to His servants. Some of the men I have known in pastoral, prison, and seminary settings have walked beside me for thirty years and more. We have buried each other's loved ones, prayed each other through diagnoses and dark seasons, and laughed at the absurdities of ministry together. Without those brothers, I would not be standing today. Every pastor reading this needs to find his three or four men and never let them go.

V. Mwili wa MchungajiV. The Pastor's Body

Paulo aliwakumbusha Wakorintho kwamba miili yao ni hekalu la Roho Mtakatifu (1 Wakorintho 6:19). Mara nyingi mchungaji husahau jambo hili linapomhusu yeye mwenyewe. Analala saa nne tu kabla ya Jumapili. Anakula vyakula vya haraka kwa sababu siku imejaa. Anaacha mazoezi kwa sababu ana mambo mengi mno ya kufanya. Anakunywa kahawa nyingi mno, anaketi mezani pake kwa saa kumi mfululizo, kisha anashangaa kwa nini amechoka sana akiwa na miaka hamsini.Paul reminded the Corinthians that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). The pastor often forgets this when applied to himself. He gets four hours of sleep before Sunday. He eats fast food because the day is full. He skips exercise because he has too much to do. He drinks too much coffee, sits at his desk for ten hours straight, and wonders why he is exhausted at fifty.

Mwili ni sehemu ya mtu. Mchungaji ambaye mwili wake unavunjika atahubiri kwa nguvu kidogo, atashauri kwa uvumilivu mdogo, na ataongoza kwa hekima ndogo kuliko ambavyo angeweza. Mchungaji mwaminifu anautunza mwili wake si kwa majivuno bali kwa uwakili.The body is part of the man. A pastor whose body is breaking will preach with less power, counsel with less patience, and lead with less wisdom than he could have. The faithful pastor takes care of his body not out of vanity but out of stewardship.

Hilo linamaanisha usingizi. Watu wazima wengi wanahitaji saa saba hadi nane. Mchungaji anayeishi kwa saa tano kwa miaka ishirini anakopa dhidi ya afya yake ya baadaye. Linamaanisha mazoezi. Matembezi siku nyingi, mchezo fulani, muda juu ya baiskeli, kazi bustanini — kitu kinachoushughulisha mwili na kuisafisha akili. Linamaanisha kula kwa kiasi. Mchungaji hahitaji kuwa katika mpango wa kupunguza uzito, lakini hapaswi kunywa soda na kula vyakula vya kukaanga kila mlo. Linamaanisha uchunguzi wa afya. Uchunguzi wa mwili wa kila mwaka, kusafishwa meno, vipimo vinavyopendekezwa. Wachungaji wengi wanaokufa mapema hufa kwa sababu ambazo zingeweza kugunduliwa miaka mingi kabla.That means sleep. Most adults need seven to eight hours. A pastor who runs on five for twenty years is borrowing against his future health. It means exercise. A walk most days, a sport, time on a bike, work in a garden — something that moves the body and clears the head. It means eating reasonably. The pastor does not need to be on a diet, but he should not be drinking soda and eating fried food at every meal. It means medical checkups. The annual physical, the dental cleanings, the recommended screenings. Most pastors who die early die from causes that were detectable years before.

VI. Maisha ya Ibada Binafsi ya MchungajiVI. The Pastor's Devotional Life

Mchungaji lazima asome Biblia kwa ajili ya nafsi yake mwenyewe, mbali na kuisoma kwa ajili ya mahubiri. Hii ni mojawapo ya nidhamu zinazopotea kwa urahisi zaidi katika huduma. Mtu ambaye uhusiano wake pekee na Maandiko ni maandalizi ya mahubiri, ndani ya miaka michache, ataikuta nafsi yake ikienda kwa mabaki ya mafuta. Ameshika Neno la Mungu wiki nzima kama chombo cha kazi. Anahitaji kulijia Neno kama mtu mwenye njaa anavyoujia mkate.The pastor must read the Bible for his own soul, separately from reading it for sermons. This is one of the most easily lost disciplines in ministry. The man whose only Scripture engagement is sermon preparation will, within a few years, find his soul running on fumes. He has handled the Word of God all week as a tool. He needs to come to the Word as a hungry man comes to bread.

Vivyo hivyo kwa maombi. Mchungaji anaongoza maombi ya hadharani daima — maombi ya kichungaji ibadani, maombi kando ya kitanda cha mgonjwa, maombi harusini. Lazima pia aombe kwa siri, kwa ajili ya nafsi yake mwenyewe, bila watazamaji. Danieli aliomba mara tatu kwa siku, madirisha yakiwa wazi kuelekea Yerusalemu, akijua kwamba wapelelezi wa mfalme walikuwa wakitazama, naye aliomba kwa sababu alihitaji kuomba. Mchungaji anahitaji kuomba kwa sababu anahitaji kuomba.The same is true of prayer. The pastor leads in public prayer constantly — pastoral prayer in the service, prayer at the bedside, prayer at the wedding. He must also pray in private, for his own soul, with no audience. Daniel prayed three times a day, with the windows open toward Jerusalem, knowing the king's spies were watching, and he prayed because he needed to pray. The pastor needs to pray because he needs to pray.

Ibada pia ni kwa ajili ya mchungaji. Katika Jumapili ya likizo ambapo hahubiri, mchungaji anapaswa kuwa ameketi katika kiti cha kanisa fulani, akiimba nyimbo, akisikia Neno likihubiriwa na mwingine, akishiriki Meza ya Bwana kama mwabudu badala ya mhudumu. Ikiwa hafanyi hivi kamwe, ibada yake mwenyewe inanyauka na hatimaye kusanyiko lake linahisi kwamba mchungaji anafuata tu taratibu badala ya kukutana na Mungu.Worship is also for the pastor. On a vacation Sunday when he is not preaching, the pastor should be in someone's pew, singing the hymns, hearing the Word preached by another, taking the Lord's Supper as a worshiper rather than a server. If he never does this, his own worship withers and his congregation eventually senses that the pastor is going through motions rather than meeting God.

VII. Afya ya Akili ya MchungajiVII. The Pastor's Mental Health

Wachungaji hupatwa na msongo wa mawazo (sonona). Wachungaji hupatwa na wasiwasi. Wachungaji huchoka kupita kiasi hadi kuishiwa nguvu kabisa. Wachungaji huwa na mawazo ya kujiua katika misimu ya giza. Jumuiya ya wachungaji imejaa wanaume waliohitaji msaada na hawakuupata kwa sababu walidhani kuomba msaada ni udhaifu au kwamba wachungaji hawaruhusiwi kuwa na mapambano kama hayo.Pastors get depressed. Pastors get anxious. Pastors burn out. Pastors have suicidal thoughts in dark seasons. The pastoral guild is full of men who needed help and did not get it because they thought asking for help was weakness or that pastors are not allowed such struggles.

Mchungaji mwaminifu lazima aukatae uongo huu. Sonona si ukosefu wa kiroho. Wasiwasi si kutoamini. Mtu anayepambana na hali hizi si Mkristo mbaya kuliko mtu asiyepambana nazo. Ni mtu anayehitaji msaada. Mchungaji mwaminifu anatambua dalili ndani yake mwenyewe, anazikiri kwa uwazi kwa mke wake na kwa marafiki zake wa karibu walio wachungaji, anamwona mshauri Mkristo au daktari wa magonjwa ya akili inapohitajika, anatumia dawa ikiwa daktari ameziagiza, na hajifanyi kwamba kila kitu kiko sawa wakati sivyo.The faithful pastor must reject this lie. Depression is not unspirituality. Anxiety is not unbelief. The man wrestling with these realities is not a worse Christian than the man who is not. He is a man who needs help. The faithful pastor recognizes the symptoms in himself, confesses them honestly to his wife and his close pastor friends, sees a Christian counselor or psychiatrist when needed, takes medication if a doctor prescribes it, and does not pretend everything is fine when it is not.

Ikiwa mchungaji anasoma haya na kujitambua katika maelezo haya, hatua inayofuata si kujisikia hatia. Hatua inayofuata ni kupiga simu wiki hii — kwa mke wake ikiwa hajakuwa mwaminifu kwake, kwa ndugu katika huduma, kwa mshauri Mkristo, kwa daktari. Msaada upo, na unasaidia mara nyingi zaidi sana kuliko kukata tamaa kunavyomwambia mtu anayepambana. Ufalme wa Mungu unahitaji wachungaji waaminifu kwa safari ndefu, na hilo linaanza kwa kujitunza mwenyewe sasa.If a pastor reads this and recognizes himself in the description, the next step is not to feel guilty. The next step is to make a phone call this week — to his wife if he has not been honest with her, to a brother in ministry, to a Christian counselor, to a doctor. Help exists, and it helps far more often than despair tells a struggling man it will. The kingdom of God needs faithful pastors for the long run, and that begins with taking care of himself now.

Ikiwa anachokitambua ndani yake sasa hivi kinajumuisha mawazo ya kujiua, hilo si tatizo la kusubiri siku moja ili alilete katika chakula cha mchana kijacho na rafiki wa huduma — linahitaji msaada leo. Piga namba ya dharura ya nchi yako, nenda kwenye chumba cha dharura cha hospitali, au piga simu ya msaada wa dharura (crisis line) sasa hivi; nchini Marekani, hiyo ni 988, Simu ya Msaada wa Kujiua na Dharura (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline), inayopatikana kwa kupiga simu au kutuma ujumbe mfupi. Mwambie mtu unayemwamini mara moja badala ya kulibeba peke yako hata kwa usiku mmoja zaidi. Huu si udhaifu wala kutoamini. Ni hekima ileile inayompeleka hospitali mtu mwenye maumivu ya kifua badala ya kumwambia aombe tu yaondoke.If what he recognizes in himself right now includes thoughts of ending his life, that is not a someday problem to raise at the next lunch with a ministry friend — it needs help today. Call the emergency number in his own country, go to an emergency room, or call a crisis line right now; in the United States, that is 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available by call or text. Tell a trusted person immediately rather than carrying it alone even for one more night. This is not weakness or unbelief. It is the same wisdom that sends a man with chest pain to the hospital rather than telling him to pray it away.

VIII. Mtazamo wa Muda MrefuVIII. The Long View

Jumlisha nidhamu za sehemu hii na kinachojitokeza ni picha ya maisha yanayoweza kudumu. Ndoa iliyolindwa. Watoto wanaomjua kweli baba yao. Sabato ya kila wiki. Marafiki wachache wanaoaminika. Mwili unaotunzwa. Nafsi inayolishwa. Akili iliyo wazi kuhusu hali yake yenyewe.Add up the disciplines of this unit and what emerges is a portrait of a sustainable life. A protected marriage. Children who actually know their father. A weekly Sabbath. A handful of trusted friends. A body that is cared for. A soul that is fed. A mind that is honest about its own state.

Mchungaji anayejenga maisha yake hivi anaweza kutumika kwa miaka arobaini. Mchungaji asiyefanya hivyo yuko hatarini kuangukia mojawapo ya makundi ya majeruhi yaliyotajwa mwanzoni mwa sehemu hii — kuishiwa nguvu kabisa, anguko la kimaadili, nyumba tupu, kaburi la mapema. Uchaguzi ni wa mchungaji, unaofanywa si katika wakati mmoja wa kusisimua bali katika maamuzi madogo elfu kila wiki.A pastor who builds his life this way can serve for forty years. A pastor who does not is a candidate for one of the casualty categories at the start of this unit — the burnout, the moral fall, the empty home, the early grave. The choice is the pastor's, made not in a single dramatic moment but in a thousand small decisions every week.

Inashangaza kwamba nyaraka za kichungaji za Paulo zinarudi tena na tena kwenye tabia na maisha binafsi ya mchungaji badala ya mkakati wa huduma. "Jitunze nafsi yako, na mafundisho yako" (1 Timotheo 4:16). Paulo anaamuru kuyazingatia yote mawili pamoja, na wingi wa mara ambazo nyaraka zake za kichungaji zinarudi kwenye tabia binafsi wenyewe unastahili kuzingatiwa: mtu anayejitunza vizuri atayatunza mafundisho vizuri pia. Mtu anayejiacha aporomoke hatimaye atayasaliti mafundisho anayopaswa kuyalinda.It is striking that Paul's pastoral letters return again and again to the pastor's character and personal life rather than to ministry strategy. "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine" (1 Timothy 4:16). Paul commands attention to both together, and the sheer frequency with which his pastoral letters return to personal character is itself worth noticing: the man who keeps himself well will keep the doctrine well too. The man who lets himself crumble will eventually betray the doctrine he is supposed to be guarding.

HitimishoClosing

Mchungaji ni mwanadamu, si mashine. Ana mke anayemhitaji, watoto wanaomhitaji, mwili unaohitaji usingizi na mazoezi, nafsi inayohitaji kulishwa, akili inayohitaji utunzaji wa kweli, urafiki unaohitaji kukuzwa, na Sabato inayohitaji kulindwa. Mchungaji anayejichukulia kama mashine huvunjika. Mchungaji anayejichukulia kama mwanadamu — mwana mpendwa wa Mungu, aliyeitwa kwa huduma inayohitaji utii wa muda mrefu wa maisha yenye afya — hustahimili.The pastor is a man, not a machine. He has a wife who needs him, children who need him, a body that needs sleep and exercise, a soul that needs feeding, a mind that needs honest care, friendships that need cultivation, and a Sabbath that needs guarding. The pastor who treats himself as a machine breaks. The pastor who treats himself as a man — God's beloved son, called to a ministry that requires the long obedience of a healthy life — endures.

Bwana Yesu, katikati ya miaka yake mitatu ya huduma ya hadharani, mara kwa mara "alikuwa akijitenga, akaenda mahali pasipo watu, akaomba" (Luka 5:16). Ikiwa Mwana wa Mungu alihitaji mdundo huo, mchungaji anayesoma haya anauhitaji zaidi.The Lord Jesus, in the middle of His three years of public ministry, regularly "withdrew into the wilderness and prayed" (Luke 5:16). If the Son of God needed that rhythm, the pastor reading this needs it more.

Kila mchungaji anayesoma haya na ajitoe upya kwa nidhamu zinazomlinda mtu, ili huduma iweze kustahimili hadi mwisho.May every pastor reading this commit afresh to the disciplines that protect the man, so that the ministry can endure to the end.

"Huwapa nguvu wazimiao; humwongezea nguvu yeye asiye na uwezo. Hata vijana watazimia na kuchoka, na hao waliochaguliwa wataanguka; bali wao wamngojeao BWANA watapata nguvu mpya; watapanda juu kwa mbawa kama tai; watapiga mbio, wala hawatachoka; watakwenda kwa miguu, wala hawatazimia" (Isaya 40:29–31)."He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:29–31).

— Dkt. Wayne Cook
Seminari ya Teolojia ya Chapala (Chapala Theological Seminary)— Dr. Wayne Cook
Chapala Theological Seminary

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