No, this is not turning into a blog devoted to ministerial whining, honest! I’ve just been noticing how many of my minister friends and Christian workers are battling discouragement in the ministry. You won’t read it (much) in the blogs of the rock-star ministers with the booming mega-churches, you won’t read it in the pages of Leadership (unless they get the rock-star minister to do an article about how they defeat discouragement), and you won’t see it in the pasted on smile of your local minister who keeps up a good front.
But when you get Christian workers together and remove the masks, you hear a lot of discouragement. Most people go into ministry because they want to serve God and see people get closer to Jesus. They tend to have this idea that if they serve in a local church or other ministry that the Christians there will get on board and everyone will pull together to advance God’s Kingdom and tear down the strongholds of the devil.
The reality often is less idealistic. Church members can fight amongst themselves with an ugliness that you won’t see in a biker gang. They can criticize and complain about their minister, which can be very dispiriting to the minister who is burning out trying to serve God and the church. They can show an amazing level of apathy and complacency: nothing like preaching for a week on the need to serve the community and then have 2 people show up to help with the food drive. They often fail to learn the basics of the bible even after countless sermons and lessons. Ever hear a church member of 40 years tell a racist joke? That’ll discourage you. Then again, Jesus himself seemed to get discouraged at how clueless the disciples could be.
The very nature of ministry leads to discouragement. Long hours, working with volunteers, trying to please an entire congregation with often divergent interests, an emotional investment in the people of the church, an idealist view of the ministry: all these things are a set-up for some severe discouragement.
And finally, we have to understand that the devil does not just tempt us to sin, he also vexes us with discouragement. I would guess that more ministers quit the ministry or change congregations because of discouragement than sin or conflict. The devil knows that he can sometimes wear us down better than strike us down. Those who are used to solving problems get discouraged when the problem has no easy solutions, and spiritual attacks are not something that you can just work around.
The end result: a lot of ministers, missionaries, and church workers (elders, deacons, teachers, etc.) who are ready to give up or who are just plodding along going through the motions. Keep these folks in your prayers, and remember, a word of encouragement goes a long way. I can think of times when I was walking on air, feeling really good after a service, only to be shot down by an ill-thought word of criticism or a conflict brewing up. On the other hand, I’ve had days when I was ready to give up and a note or a call picked me up and gave me the strength to carry on, like the angel giving bread and water for Elijah’s journey.
Just a note: this is not an autobiographical post. I’m not telegraphing any personal discouragement nor am I crying out for an encouraging word or comment. Honestly. My discouragement level is well within the normal operating limits. These thoughts are just dovetailing on my “I’m tired” post and a lot of comments with fellow Christian workers. I imagine that a lot of you out there who are ministers will identify with these words, so just take a moment and think of someone you know who is discouraged and lift up a prayer to them, and maybe pick up the phone and give them a call or shoot them an email.
Insipid Garbage 