The church is facing a crisis of leadership longevity. According to Barna Group, 75 percent of pastors today know of at least one fellow pastor who has quit the ministry because of burnout or other stress-related issues.

Most leaders can achieve short bursts of success, but it takes tremendous resilience to provide consistent leadership over the long haul. Let me suggest four important priorities for the long journey of pastoral leadership.

Spiritual Integrity

The value of a pastoral leader’s steady spiritual life cannot be over-emphasized.

Too many church leaders struggle to maintain a vibrant devotional life. No wonder many are losing their leadership stamina — or, worse, disqualifying themselves for leadership as a result of ungodly decisions and behaviors.

It’s not enough to have a measure of anointing for next Sunday. Long-term ministers must continually seek God for anointing, day after day, year after year.

Self-Awareness

People have always tried to make celebrities of their pastors. The apostle Paul addressed this when he called out the Corinthian congregation for arguing over which leader was best (1 Corinthians 1:11-13).

As pastoral leaders, we intersect the lives of individuals in ways that create indelible imprints. This is a good thing. However, if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves nourishing our soul on status — pursuing the cotton candy of human praise rather than genuine spiritual nourishment.

Longevity in pastoral leadership requires a strong sense of self-awareness. We must realize that every good thing is a gift from God (James 1:17) and that without Jesus, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Self-awareness keeps pride in check and reminds us not to leverage our influence selfishly.

Sexual Purity

Church leaders who pretend their spirituality is above sexual temptation are arrogant and deceived — and they may be setting themselves up for a fall.

Every sin and indiscretion has a corresponding consequence, and nothing halts a leader’s influence and ministry faster than sexual sin. Though rehabilitation and restoration are sometimes possible, sexual impurity often diminishes — or completely destroys — a minister’s reputation and longevity.

Stress Adaptability

Many pastoral leaders, especially those who preach and teach, find themselves wondering, Why do I feel so good after Sunday services, then feel so down on Monday?

What gets you to the finish line of a marathon is similar to what goes into a lifetime of leadership in the church.

The answer is adrenaline, or, more specifically, adrenaline fatigue. What this means is that the post-Sunday blues are not a spiritual issue, but a physiological one.

In his book Adrenaline and Stress, Dr. Archibald Hart writes, “Symptoms of adrenaline withdrawal are easy to recognize. They include a strong compulsion to always be ‘doing something,’ obsession with thoughts about what ‘needs to be done,’ feelings of guilt when relaxing, irritability on days off, and a sense of purposelessness, even depression.”

Addressing specifically the effects of adrenaline in the human body, Hart says: “what goes up must come down. When adrenaline is elevated, the body seems to be able to fight off disease and discomfort. But when it drops, the body returns all systems to a normal level of arousal. It’s at this point that headaches, diarrhea, fatigue, flu, depression, and generalized anxiety are felt. However, this is part of the normal process of recovery from stress.”

To survive over the long haul, pastoral leaders must learn to manage stress — not only personally, but also on the congregational level. People look to leaders for strength when the congregational environment is exhibiting a loss of equilibrium, often as the result of change. At such times, a leader who is not anxious can provide a calming presence.

Of course, leaders must deal with their own emotions and behaviors before they can effectively respond to the emotions and behaviors of others.

In his book, Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times, Peter Steinke writes: “How a leader handles his/her anxiety, the anxiety focused on him/her by others, and the anxiety seeping into the system is vital to the welfare of the congregation. Leadership, often thought to be about action, is more about interaction — that is, the regulation of a person’s own reactivity (to what is happening within and without). Since anxiety is infectious, the leader does not want to be its source or its transmitter. Essentially, an anxious leader leaves the congregation without real leadership.”

This doesn’t mean a leader never experiences anxiety, but he or she must remain under the guidance of the Holy Spirit rather than the control of anxiety. Pastoral leaders who finish well after a long journey of leadership have learned to trust God to help them manage anxiety in the midst of congregational anxiety.

My genetic code is not predisposed for running marathons. Yet I have completed three marathons. Similarly, my upbringing did not predispose me for pastoral leadership. Yet I have been fortunate to serve in various leadership roles in the local church for more than 30 years.

Marathon running and church leadership have similarities when it comes to longevity. What gets you to the finish line of a marathon is similar to what goes into a lifetime of leadership in the church: staying fit, staying the course, and staying focused on the reason for running.