WHY ARE YOU IN THE MINISTRY?
It’s time to ask yourself the question. Why do you do it?—long hours, low pay, target for other people’s frustrations and anxieties, and sometimes the butt of their jokes. So why do you do it? This is not trying to explain to someone else but answering the question for yourself.
A SENSE OF PURPOSE
It is an important question to explore. Viktor Frankl suggests that knowing why is a critical question for a healthy life. The study of centenarians by Dan Buettner suggests that a key factor in those who live to be 100 is that they all had a sense of purpose in life. When we know why we are getting up in the morning, it makes it a whole lot easier to get up.
In the ministry, with all of its frustrations and challenges, it is even more critical that you know why you are in the ministry. It can change over time, and probably will, but you need to be able to answer for yourself why you are doing what you are doing.
An exercise exploring the
Why of Your ministry.
First, try to think back to why you wanted to and prepared to enter the ministry. Make five statements describing why you chose to enter the ministry. This is for you, so it is important that you be honest with yourself. If some of the reasons were less than noble, so be it, but write the noble ones down as well.
THE CHALLENGES
Since you began the ministry, there have been some challenges to your faith and some painful disappointments as well, hopefully, some satisfactions. For your own health, write out five or more statements about what challenged you and discouraged you throughout your time in the ministry. Again, it is important that you be honest with yourself. Don’t write an essay. Simply make five to ten declarative statements. Ten would be better because, after the first five, you begin to dig below the surface.
SIT BACK
Next, sit back, read both sets of statements, and then set them aside. Close your eyes and allow yourself to rest in God for ten to twenty minutes—maybe longer. You may have several positive and negative thoughts arise during this time. Don’t judge them. Simply note them and wait for the next to come. Resist the temptation to reach any conclusions.
WHAT I’D LIKE TO BE TRUE
When this time is completed, take a fresh piece of paper and make ten declarative statements that you would like to be true about why you are in the ministry. As before, making ten such statements helps you go deeper.
CHOOSE FIVE
Pick out the five statements that most attract you and over the next several days include these statements in your spontaneous reflections and in your prayer life. I think this will enrich your understanding of why you are in the ministry. When a pastor knows why s/he is in the ministry, it makes one far more resilient in facing the various challenges before you. God’s call doesn’t protect you against negative experiences but it does give meaning to why you do what you do.
