Bad Habits of a College Pastor

By guy.chmieleski@gmail.comThe Campus Minister

 

I’m thinking about some of my bad habits today…

Could be a Monday thing.

Or it may have something to do with the fact that as I was pulling through the drive-thru over the lunch hour, I was thinking about the numerous meals that I’ll be eating out while at the Catalyst conference later this week.

Of course, this got me to thinking about my lunches in general, and how I eat out just about everyday of the work week.

I know I don’t have to, but I justify it.

I don’t have time to make a lunch in the morning — because the 5 minutes it would take might make the difference in… some area of my day.

It puts me where students are — the caf and other options on or around campus, where my sack lunch would apparently be offensive, uncool, or not allow me to even gain admittance.

It’s convenient — if I happen to be out running errands over the lunch hour… where, again, a packed lunch would be much, much less so.

Weak excuses at best.

Sure, when arranging a lunch gathering with a student or colleague it might make sense to decide on a local establishment and enjoy something there.

But that’s not an everyday occurrence — at least not for me.

It has become a habit of convenience — and a bad one at that.

And of course this doesn’t even take into account the countless cups of coffee that serve as a medium for conversations.

Yes, there will be times when it is OK, appropriate, and even good to “treat” myself.

But I get the sense that these bad habits might be catching up with me.

Apparently the metabolism and activity-level of a late 30-something is not designed to handle this kind of intake.

Some may call it a work-associated hazard.

But I don’t think it has to be.

So I need to change.

Can you relate?

  • Have you picked up any bad habits, or fallen into any unhealthy routines, as a result of your work as a pastor to college students?
  • Do you rationalize your practices, justify your bad behavior, or make excuses for why you cannot change?
  • If you could, what one thing would you change today? How can you work on making that change a reality?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

 

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4 thoughts on “Bad Habits of a College Pastor”

  1. Guy–good one. Definitely some occupational hazards in our line of work! In addition to eating out too much, food in general can be a problem (how much pizza at social events do we need?).

    I’d also add the arrhythmia of getting to bed too late, combined with the need to get up early with young kids. Exhausting. 

    And then there’s things that I can’t help. I would like more structure to my weekly schedule, and lock down meeting times with students. But I find I need to keep it more open and flexible. 

    1. Steve! Thanks for adding to the list. You bring up some great points that speak to the way we program (in terms of what we include and offer, as well as when we hold it); as well as the need to be flexible and adaptable in our scheduling.

      We could probably come up with our own version of The 7 highly ___________ habits of a college pastor that would be both funny and sad. 

      It starts with awareness — and then being willing to take the necessary steps to change.

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