Have you ever sat down to your work at church and wondered, What in the world are we doing? Why is this so hard? Why can’t we get along? Why did I even sign up for this?
Most of us serving in the area of children, youth, and families didn’t take the job because we loved “getting things done.” Instead, we love people and we love Jesus. Hopefully we were drawn to ministry because we wanted to be present where the mystery of Christ meets the mess of people’s lives—redeeming, restoring, and making new.
And yet …it is still a job. And in that job, almost nothing is more rewarding than those times when ministry teams are working closely together to prioritize the gospel and people. You probably know the feeling of serving on a team in which people meshed well, felt excited about their roles, and worked hard—all pulling together toward a common end. Meanwhile, few things are more dispiriting than a divided, disorganized, or dysfunctional ministry team.
I’m writing to those who supervise staff, lead ministry teams, or have the task of building partnership between ministry areas. I want to share a few spiritual ingredients to doing that collaborative work well. I offer these encouragements not out of any desire to do a “spiritual bypass” or to hyper-spiritualize your work. Instead, they are genuine heart checks for you and me as we go about our labor.
Ministry is work.
Call me an idealist, but work within the church should be different from the marketplace. When I was trying to learn leadership and team management and alignment, I phoned a few friends. I asked a friend I admire (a business leader at a major company) what one leadership book he would recommend. His response? Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work, by Tim Keller and Katherine Leary Alsdorf. I felt humbled: I know that book, I had even taught that book.
We of all people, in the church, ought to hear the Lord’s call to work with all our heart, in whatever we do, to the glory of God. Work need not center me and my own thriving, because the gospel gives us a new story of God’s goodness in creation and God’s promise of redemption and making all things new.
In a ministry leadership setting, we have a great charter and freedom to be open about our dependence on the Lord. So here are a few specific things from God’s Word that have helped me as I have tackled the work of family ministry. I offer these not out of any desire to do some “spiritual bypass” and or hyper-spiritualize your work—but as genuine heart checks for you and me as we go about our labor.
Take Jesus at his word.
Matthew 6 offers wise guidance for work on a church staff. Jesus instructs us to work with a heart oriented to God alone, content in the knowledge that sees our heart and what is done in secret. Similarly, in Mark 10, Jesus teaches us that because we are blessed with abundance in him and his family, we need not vie for positions of greatness where we lord it over others. Instead, we take the posture of servants, seeking to give of our lives rather than getting others to serve us.
In these and many other passages, we are reminded that our work is not separate from our witness and our duties are not compartmentalized off from our discipleship. Jesus helps us integrate what we do with who we are becoming by his Spirit. Ministry leadership presents you with a wonderful prompt: is my work of __________ a place leading me to to trust Jesus and live in the freedom and abundance of his kingdom? Think on that and prayerfully submit your way or working to what he might desires to challenge or change according to his word.
Remember that dying is living.
Jesus’ freedom to serve in the moment (John 13) flowed from knowing where he was from and where he was going. He knew he was laying down his life. We know this, too: We are pilgrims in this life, sent in his love, sent in his name—and there he is in our midst.
So you can offer your own vocation to the Lord as a seed falling to the ground (John 12)—a dying and a fruit-bearing, a losing and finding a life worth living. Our work is often the place in which God is doing his own great work in us. The gospel is not about my own glorification, but it does involve Christ’s glory reflected in my life—often through weakness and suffering.
Are you feeling misunderstood? Passed by in favor or another? Criticized but have a right to be defensive? Overwhelmed by the sorrow or pain you encounter? In Jesus you have one who stands for you and with you and knows these realities intimately. Take your heart and its full range of feelings to him and to trusted friends in honest expression.
Trust that your work is not a waste.
Since Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, we have a new starting point for everything—including our work. 1 Corinthians 15:58 just may be my favorite verse in Scripture because of its incredible promise. We can give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord, trusting that our labor is not in vain.
In ministry you will brush up against the temptation to despair. Sometimes it comes as you try to assess your efforts: Will this ever bear fruit? Is anything going to change? Does anyone care? How can God work in this seemingly hopeless situation?
On other days it feels personal as you doubt what you are doing: Why is this so hard for me? Am I ever going to get better or more effective at this? Why can’t I be as effective as I want to? Did I make a mistake and choose the wrong job?
Take heart: the Lord is with you, he has overcome, and he gives you his peace. Rest in his provision, and take up your work with a new heart.
Did you know Rooted offers a Family Ministry Mentorship? Our 12-week cohorts provide both small group and individual coaching for volunteers, youth pastors or associate pastors who oversee family ministry in their church contexts.
