By Dale Sellers

Hebrews 12:1 – 2 is one of my favorite passages of scripture:

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I have discovered over the years that many of us who lead in ministry understand the impact of sinful acts and their detrimental impact on our leadership. However, my experience has been that not enough of us give proper attention to how much negative events create weights that greatly slow us down on our race. I think it’s just easier to relegate the impact of things that weigh us down to the unimportant category.

During our season of traveling with music groups at the beginning of our ministry, I discovered an alarming trend in many churches. Our schedule usually allowed a few minutes to pray with the pastor or a staff member from the host church before the concert. During these prayer times, I noticed a common theme would surface. Most of the leaders were really discouraged.

This didn’t just happen occasionally. It actually was the norm. Church after church. Concert after concert. One leader to the next. The discouragement these leaders were dealing with astounded me. I wondered how so many great men and women of God could be that beaten down and disillusioned with ministry. Where did their passion go? In the years ahead, the source of this discouragement became clear to me. Something had ambushed them on the inside.

I wondered how so many great men and women of God could be that beaten down and disillusioned with ministry. Where did their passion go?

Does this sound familiar to you? In an atmosphere of safety and transparency, if you could be completely honest, would you confess you are really disheartened? Do you feel so unfulfilled that your passion has begun to fade? Has your desire to make a difference given way to despair? Or, even worse, has the belief that you can have an impact on your community left you completely?

Serving in ministry can slowly and methodically deplete your passion. As you reflect on ways you have been blindsided by ministry, consider what price you have had to pay. Do you feel like a shell of the person you were when you started? Some common habits and thought patterns keep our ministries from turning out as we hoped. Here are a few:

Competition: We blame the larger ministries in town for stealing our people.

Contemplation: We consistently talk more of what God did instead of what God is doing.

Comparison: We define and measure our success against other ministries.

Constraints: We focus on our needs instead of the Source of our provision.

Complacency: We have become resigned to having little kingdom impact.

If these practices have become part of your daily thoughts and conversations, then you probably have also thought you would be there by now. However, the real issue you need to confront may be that you have embraced the wrong definition of success. It is easy to develop a wrong definition of success when you’ve been blindsided by self-doubt. Unchecked, self-doubt can take up inside you and eat away at you like a slow-growing cancer.

Unchecked, self-doubt can take up inside you and eat away at you like a slow-growing cancer.

Self-doubt isn’t reserved just for leaders of small churches. Many successful leaders of larger ministries grapple with the question of “What now?” They have taken their organizations to new heights. However, each new pinnacle reached also reveals the next one to pursue. It often feels as if the peace that should come with reaching new heights is unattainable. To make matters worse, these leaders also come to understand that they now have to learn a new set of leadership principles to get to the next level. This entire process can be exhausting and unfulfilling.

If you’ve been in ministry for very long, you know in your heart that the actions that got you where you are now will not get you to the next destination. And if you don’t change your thinking and your habits, then in all likelihood, you will perpetuate an unhealthy ministry that will not grow. The ripple effect of an ongoing unhealthy ministry can last for several generations. Now is the time for us to come together and get the help we need. Your church, not to mention the world around you, needs you now more than ever.

Sellers, Dale. Stalled: Hope and Help for Pastors Who Thought They’d Be There by Now (pp. 58-63).

I wrote a post a few years ago entitled, “It’s OK Not To Be OK . . . But’s It’s Not OK To Stay That Way.” At some point, we all reach a place where we must acknowledge our need for help. Oftentimes this starts with a simple phone call or a conversation over coffee. It’s important to note that the path to healing begins with you taking that first step to get help.

What are you doing that is working well? What is not going so well? Let’s connect and have a conversation about it. At 95Network, we are here to support and serve you in anyway we can. If you feel like you’re in a season where your stalled out and can see the way forward then please reach out to me at [email protected]

• Website: 95Network.org
• 95Network – Soul Care Essentials
• 95Network – Healthy Church Assessment
• Read Stalled: Hope and Help for Pastors Who Thought They’d Be There By Now

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