If you, oh expounder on Scripture are wondering what has happened to you...know that you are not alone. These are all the feelings that preachers have on a Sunday afternoon even when a good sermon is preached. It is PSG, Post Sermon Grumps . I have had them every Sunday since I took the reigns behind the pulpit. My wife and kids know to tread lightly around me, it is something that overtakes me as soon as I walk in the door when coming home from church. No amount of caffeine can cure it!
Preaching is hard work, I have to laugh when someone says 'well you just work one day a week. ' The pressure we preachers place on ourselves is overwhelming and the pressure we collect from other people adds to the overall feeling of being inadequate. After all we get up and preach about a perfect God, knowing we are imperfect...we get up after studying all week and prayerfully working out a sermon...only to get everything we said analyzed and critiqued by most everyone who is hearing it. I have had church members ask me if my ears were ringing because I was (oh and the sermon) the topic of conversation over lunch and it was not pretty. I am not complaining, this is all part of the territory I live in, however noticing the PSG's and dealing with them can really help your home life and your overall job satisfaction (not to mention your ability to enjoy a good football game).
It has been said that preaching one sermon produces as much stress as a and expends as much energy as working a full 8-10 hour day. I have had my own lawn-sprinkler installation business, worked as a commodity trader, ran a large non-profit and can agree with that statement 100%. Here are a couple things I have noticed that help minimize the PSG's.
1. More preparation - much of the stress felt after preaching a sermon is due to lack of preparation or at least not being pleased with how the sermon flowed. Not having said something we intended to say, not connecting with the audience both are frustrating. I have noticed the more work I put in on the front end of sermon preparation, the less PSG I experience. I try to work through the sermon 3x, and pray through the sermon 1x prior to delivering it.
2. Take self less seriously - there is no way we will ever measure up to what we are preaching...that is why we rely on grace. I study preachers and in every sermon I have listened to, the preacher has messed up somewhere in the sermon. If we focus on 'hitting singles' (good quality sermons), we can remove the stress of trying to 'hit them all out of the park (and potentially striking out a lot).'
3. Communicate carefully - This is specifically for your family. Your spouse and kids need to know how you feel when you come home from church and deserve to know why you are grumpy. Take some time telling them what you need to do when you get home on Sunday and I bet they will help you out.
4. Rest - you can minimize the PSG's but they will never fully go away, it is the bodies way of detoxing from the adrenaline or so they tell me. Give yourself the permission to rest, relax and just be...enjoy the hard work you put in during the week and listen to your body. In time the PSG's will go away and you will be ready for another week.
My wife told me after our first two children that she would let me know when she was ready for another one. She said that she would have to forget the pain and remember the love. Every Monday I can relate to what she says in a small way...because I come to the study, forgetting the strain of delivering a sermon and the PSG's and remember the love I have for the people I am serving, the God I am serving, pick up my Bible and excitedly start it all over again.
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