Why Being a Clergy Member Is the Most Fulfilling Job on Earth

I am proud to be working for my employer.

My main satisfaction in life comes from work.

My workplace contributes to the community.

I contribute to the community through my work.

This is an important set of statements to consider. The most fortunate of Americans don’t have to worry about their job providing their most basic needs. As a result, many would like to have a job with a moral or social mission. Or as AmeriCorps’ research and evaluation director Mary Morris-Hyde told the Washington Post, “There is this expectation or this desire for people to find meaning in the work that they’re doing and feeling like it contributes to some greater good.” For this reason, many would forego a better paycheck to have a better job—meaning a job that “allows you to fight the good fight while on the clock.”

So, who gets to do these jobs?

It should come as no surprise that government and nonprofit workers most strongly agree with the statements, “My workplace contributes to the community” and “I contribute to the community through my work.” Or that those who work in agriculture and forestry most strongly find satisfaction in life coming from their work. But is there a single occupation who strongly agree with all four qualifiers?   

Yes.

When it comes to being proud to work for your employer, finding your main satisfaction in life coming through your work, feeling that your workplace contributes to the community and that you contribute to the community through your work,

... no one tops clergy.

Which shouldn’t be surprising. As reported by The Washington Post, “Americans rank religious and spiritual activities as the happiest, most meaningful and least stressful things we do.” Even over sports, exercise and recreation. And if you look at places instead of activities, “houses of worship top the rankings in all three measures.” Yes, even over “the outdoors.” Again, the Washington Post:   

... scholars have found a strong relationship between religion and well-being. And they’ve found that active participation in religion – beyond simple affiliation with a mosque or temple – increases the well-being boost. And nobody participates more actively in religion than clergy!

Many years ago, I read of a pastor who boarded a plane in a pair of old blue jeans and a T-shirt, looking anything but ministerial. He sat down next to a well-dressed business guy who was reading a copy of the Wall Street Journal. They exchanged the usual pleasantries, and then the pastor asked the man what he did for a living. With obvious pride, he said: 

“Oh, I’m in the figure salon business. We can change a woman’s self-concept by changing her body. It’s really a very profound, powerful thing.”

He was a fairly young guy, so the pastor asked him if he had been doing it for very long.

“No,” he said, “I just graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Business, but they’ve already given me so much responsibility I hope to eventually manage the western part of the operation.”

“So you’re a national organization?” 

And he said: “Oh, yes. We are the fastest-growing company of our kind in the nation. It’s really good to be a part of an organization like that, don’t you think?”

The pastor nodded in approval.

Then came the inevitable question: “And what do you do?”

“It’s interesting,” the pastor said. “We actually have similar business interests. You’re in the body-changing business, and I’m in the personality-changing business. In my field, we apply basic theocratic principles to accomplish indigenous personality modification.”

The younger man had no idea what that meant, but he said: “You know, I’ve heard about that. Do you have an office here in the city?”

“Oh yes. We have many offices, up and down the state,” the minister replied. “In fact, we’re national; we have at least one office in every state of the union including Alaska and Hawaii.”

By this time, the guy was racking his brain, trying to identify this huge company that he must have heard about or read about somewhere.  

The pastor went on: “Yep, in fact, we’ve gone international. And Management has a plan to put at least one office in every country of the world by the end of this business era.”

The pastor paused a minute and then asked, “Do you have that in your business?”

The younger man said: “Well, no. Not yet. But you mentioned management. How do they make it work?”

“Actually,” the pastor said, “it’s a family business. There’s a Father and a Son... they run everything.”

“Wow. That must take a lot of capital.”

“You mean money? Yes, it does. No one knows just how much, but we never worry... those of us in the Organization have a saying about our Boss, that ‘He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.’”

“Oh,” the man said. “He’s into ranching, too? Wow. Well, what about you?”

“You mean the employees?” the pastor asked. “They are something to see. They have a ‘Spirit’ that pervades the organization. The Father and Son love each other so much that their love filters down so that we all find ourselves loving one another, too. I know this sounds old-fashioned in a world like ours, but I know people in the organization who are willing to die for me. Do you have that in your business?”

“No,” the man said. “Not exactly. But what about your benefits? Are they good?”

“Good? They’re amazing. I have complete life insurance, fire insurance — all the basics. You might not believe this, but it’s true: I have holdings in a mansion that’s being built for me right now for my retirement. Do you have that in your business?”

“Not yet,” the young man said, by this time feeling like the figure salon business wasn’t exactly the place to be. “But can your operation last? I mean, companies come and go.”

The pastor said, “Oh, I think we’ve got a pretty good future. After all, we’ve got a 2,000-year run going.”

Nothing compares to the Church, does it? No business, no investment, no enterprise, no activity. It’s the heart of God’s plan and the hope of the world. It’s the most dynamic, active, vibrant, forceful project on the planet. It is the one thing we will give our lives to that will live on long after we are gone—and not just for a generation or two, but for all of eternity.

It’s also not a bad place to work.

James Emery White

Sources

Andrew Van Dam, “These Are the Most Fulfilling Jobs in America,” The Washington Post, November 22, 2024, read online.

Story of the pastor adapted from Jeffrey L. Coter, “Witness Upmanship,” Eternity, March 1981.

Photo Courtesy:©Getty Images/Philippe Lissac

Published Date: December 2, 2024

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook, and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.