Pastor Judah Smith of City Church in Seattle, Washington talks about spiritual health in his new book "How's Your Soul? Why Everything That Matters Starts With The Inside You," where he shares some tips on how people, particularly church leaders, can protect the wellbeing of their soul.
Smith told the Gospel Herald that isolation is a "soul killer," adding that church members should seek support from one another whenever they're feeling down.
"Awhile back, I accidentally preached an entire sermon series on the health of our souls. I say 'accidentally' because I intended to preach one message, but as I studied the topic and saw how relevant it was — first for me and then for our church — I just kept going. I think it ended up being 11 weeks long," he said.
Smith said that journey completely transformed how he looks at ministry, life in general, and himself. He realised there were areas of his soul that weren't healthy, so he honestly evaluated his inner self.
"So often we don't take the time to determine if we are healthy on the inside or not, and yet our inner health has more to do with our stability and success than probably any other factor in life. I wrote this book because I wanted to help people find true peace and health on the inside — a peace and health that only God can provide," he said.
He warned that pastoral burnout is inevitable if people don't take care of their soul's wellbeing. Pastors are only human, he said, and as such they experience the same needs, struggles and issues as everyone else. But because of their unique calling, they can sometimes feel isolated.
"In an effort to be good examples and to 'live what we preach,' we can unintentionally create an environment where we are unable to admit need or ask for help," he said.
Smith said pastors can fake their feelings for a while, but in the long run, emotional isolation and pressure could lead them to "shipwreck."
"God didn't design us to live that way. As pastors and leaders, we need to ask ourselves the hard questions long before we reach the point of imploding," he said.
