If you’ve spent any time as the leader of a ministry, you’ve undoubtedly been wounded by it – probably in many ways. The hurts of ministry run deep, and have marooned many a leader.
They come in various forms:
1. Abandonment
When God called me to the lead pastor role and we launched Center Point Church, I had no real understanding of ministry abandonment or idea how to handle it. If you’re a ministry leader, you’ve felt the sting of someone leaving your ministry for no good explainable reason. You feel rejected and hurt. You don’t know how to respond.
2. Betrayal
Nothing cuts deeper than the betrayal of a friend – especially a staff member or ministry leader. I wasn’t prepared for this one either. It hurt me in ways that are difficult to explain unless you’ve been there. You invest, defend, protect, nature, and trust someone … and then whamo – they drop kick you through the goal posts of life. You’re left reeling and trying to decide how to react. It’s easy to withdraw and not to trust anyone, but that’s not right or healthy.
3. Concern
Paul writes about the pain of his daily concern for the churches he birthed. It hurts so bad when you see those you love make bad choices – especially those with big life impact.
4. Apathy
When those you’ve reached seemingly walk away from the faith, it’s devastating. You reach out, you cry, you pray… but you must leave them to their Father who loves them more than you ever could.
5. Failure
Sometimes the greatest pain comes when you feel like you’ve failed, When someone you lead fails, it feels like you fail right along with them.
Proverbs 27:6 says, Faithful are the awounds of a friend… I wonder if that applies to ministries? What can I learn from the wounds they deliver? How can I improve? How can i grow?
Here’s a few ideas:
1) Remember who you work for. No matter who you report to, God is you’re ultimate boss and He is able to care for His employees.
2) Never forget that hurt people, hurt people. . Try and understand what the thorn in the paw is in the individual inflicting the pain on you. Knowing won’t change the hurt, but it may help you deal with it. Try and love them through it.
3) Sometimes you have to just grit your teeth and get through it. Things change. It will get better.
4) Rely on God’s faithfulness.
Because of the Lord ‘s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
What are your thoughts? Your suggestions? Please share them.
