You probably know the voice: ‘That sermon didn’t land.’ ‘You’re not visiting enough.’ ‘You’re letting your people down.’
There is a part of you that constantly evaluates yourself, your people, and your circumstances. And then, this voice masquerades as faithfulness as it says, “If you stop criticizing yourself and pushing yourself, you’ll get lazy”, or “You need to be hard on yourself to be a good pastor.” Then you go to a pastoral gathering, hear of the work in other churches and find yourself feeling defensive, shame, and envy… more voices in your head letting you know you should be pushing yourself harder.
In the mental fitness work I do with pastors, we call this voice The Judge. It’s one of the primary Saboteur voices in the Positive Intelligence framework. The Judge has you judging yourself, others and your current situation.
The Positive Intelligence mental fitness program teaches you a variety of ways to quiet those voices because they are lying to you and making it more difficult for you to experience the joy, productivity and healthy relationships that God wants for you! These exercises are simple, short, and activate the part of your brain that quiets those nasty voices. An example of one of these exercises is doing a 2-minute “Interrupt the Judge” practice:
Step 1: Notice a judging thought and silently label it: “Judge speaking.”
Step 2: Shift attention to a singular physical sensation (e.g. breathing, touching, listening) for 2 minutes.
Step 3: Ask your “Sage” (the wise, grounded part of you): “What’s actually needed right now?”
In the next weeks and months, I’ll introduce you to other common Saboteurs for pastors (Pleaser, Avoider, Stickler). If you would like a simple PDF, ‘Guide to the Inner Voices of Ministry’, email me at: [email protected]
