Your Ministry

(I was asked to speak in one of the opening chapel services at Heritage Christian University in Florence, AL. This is my offering).

“As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

-2 Timothy 4:5

I want to tell you about your ministry -

You are going to sit in your office in your first work and pray - pray for opp to preach, do meetings, write, that someone - anyone will come by. And then 20 years later you will try to find a moment just to have a moment to pray…

You are going to be given assignments and procrastinate

You will find something that will occupy your time and keep you from doing what you ought to be doing

You are going to have an elder who is impossible to live with

You are going to have a secretary who is incompetent

You are going to wonder if you have any impact or effect at all

You are going to strive to see that impact and because of the nature of spiritual growth you are going to often be left frustrated

You are never going to make as much money as you could have made using your skill set in the cooperate world

You are going to get in a few financial messes and God is going to bail you out and the guilt from those messes is going to make you feel incompetent and unconfident

You will move - but you will always be thankful for your first work, for they gave you a chance when no one else would

You are going to have to disappoint your family on more than one occasion - either, we can’t afford to do, go, have … or I can’t do/go because I have a funeral, wedding, meeting, obligation

You will find a gray hair

You are going to strive for significance and someone is going to accuse you - yes you - who has sacrifice everything for the Kingdom - of being self-serving or an ego manic and you are going to question if that if true or not

You will study 20 hours to a deep, meaningful, inspiring sermon and be told it was a nice little talk

You are going to be fired - and wonder why? And wonder why. And wonder why.

You will be told in an interview - money is no object - that is one of the three great lies in the universe

You will spend your time healing marriages, counseling the depressed, talking down those who would commit suicide, at the bedside of the sick and the graveside of the dead, yet people will accuse you of living in an Ivory tower isolated from the real world

You are going to buy into at least one fashion flaw - polyester shirts, leisure suits, super wide/skinny ties - the odds are just in your favor

You will be told that preacher’s are supposed to wear suits to “whatever”

You will be told that it is old fashioned to wear suits

You will be told in every church you preach at that the elusive “they” are not happy with you work

You will have every aspect of your work and personality critiqued and criticized and you will wonder, should I quit for the good of the kingdom - don’t

You will learn that those criticizing you most often are really just masking or trying to cover up their own sins

You will preach some sermons that you will wish you could take back

You are going to think you are better than you are

You are going to be corrected

You are going to think you are not as good as you are

You are going to be corrected - but not by as many people

You will be accused by a fellow servant of the Lord of being a liberal

You will be accused by a fellow servant of the Lord of being a legalist

You are going to say something about a fellow servant of the Lord that you will later wish you hadn’t said

You will vow to encourage your fellow servants of the Lord

You are going to be threatened at least twice because you stepped in to save the life and health of a family or someone’s soul and you will feel a little pride that you got to suffer for the sake of Christ

You will move, shocked that you are “such a hot commodity”

You will be laughed at for advocating a “preacher’s count” by people who will tell you a lot of people are not happy about something when it is only the person talking and their best friend

You are going to have at least two pronunciation issues or bloopers in the pulpit that will leave everyone, hopefully, including yourself laughing (sexual immortality/tortillia) - and you won’t get it until your wife tells you

You are going to have people come to you for counsel in overcoming a sin or weakness that you yourself haven’t yet mastered

You will preach a masterpiece - someone will tell you they like your tie

You will have at least two people tell you to your face they hate you

You will have to preach a message of truth in love to those same people

You will be reprimanded for not visiting old people enough - a term with no limit

You will suggest being a babysitter for old people is not in your job description

You will get a job description

You will find more gray hairs

You will scolded for not seeing someone in the hospital because they complained that you didn’t even though they never let you know they were in the hospital

You will search 1 & 2 Timothy to find where it is the preacher’s job to visit the hospital

You will suggest that is the elder’s job

You will get an amended job description

You will be misinterpreted

You will be misunderstood

You are going to meet some people who you think are much more important than they are

You are going to more people who think they are much more important than they are

You are going to meet the most people who are much more important than they think they are

You will not “bring your ‘A’ game” more often than you wish because of external circumstances and you will hurt that you allowed those things to interfere with the Message

You will ask a woman why she is in the hospital - one time

You will have to stand on the opposite of your best friend on at least one issue

You will loose at least one best friend

You will stand up for the person who stabbed you in the back - because it is the right thing to do

You are going to grow physically sick of church politics

You will see more scars they most orthopedic surgeons

You will be offered an unbelievable job, you will be seduced by the money and fame it would bring, but you will turn it down - six months later you will move

You are going to lend someone some money or co-sign a note ….. …… one time - you are going to regret it

You are going to be taken …. …. Many times

You are going to pray that your skin doesn’t get thick but it will - you are going to pray that your heart remains soft, it will

You will be gray

You are going to wonder who counsels the counselor

You are going to cry alone

You are going to break a confidence and learn a hard lesson

You are going to bury your best friend and mentor

You will preach a masterpiece - your wife will not agree

You will have more opportunities to preach, write and people to talk to than you can fulfill - remember, you prayed for it

You are going to speak up for right at least once that you’ll later look back on and wonder why you thought that battle was so important - you are not going to speak up many more times and look back and wonder why you didn’t

You are going to be accused of being lazy when you are really just exhausted

You will not win with people

You will move and wonder what it is about you that has made you move

You are going to drive 300 miles one way, speak 3 times, pay for your own hotel room and food and not be paid enough to cover your expenses

You are going to wince at least three times when a guest speaker comes in and your arch enemy in the congregation says clearly so that you can hear it “now that’s the kind of preaching we need..”

You are going to have to defend your kids for doing something that if any other member of the churches kids did it it would be overlooked and you are probably going to punish your kids for it and wish to God you’d spanked the grippy member instead of your son

You are going to be outraged because someone is being misrepresented and you can’t do anything about it

You are going to hold more counseling secrets than the president holds national security secrets

You are going to wonder how many of those “things you know” are true but will take them to your grave

You are going to wish you could buy your wife a better house, car, ring but she is going to love you anyway - even if she really wants a better house, car, ring

---BUT...

You are going to get a phone call from someone who you never thought you’d reach that the church has been trying to reach for years saying they want you to baptism them…

You are going to stand in front of an audience on a Sunday morning and take your daughter’s confession and then baptize her into Christ while you shed enough tears of joy that you believe you could fill the baptistry

You are going to hold a baby named after you because you impacted the young couples life more than anyone else

You are going to preach a funeral and his wife is going to come to you and say - I believe Jack is in heaven today because of your influence

You are going to have a parent share with you their child’s paper on “The person I most Admire” and see your name on it

You are going to love and be loved so much by your brethren that you won’t care who hates you

You are going to have some people who believe you can walk on water, do no wrong - it’s alright to love those people a little more

You are going to have people who pray for you every day of their life

You will thank God that you get paid to do the best job in the world

You are going to live in at least one place that will forever more be “home”

You will win with God

You are going to be someone’s “preacher” a title right under there opinion of God

You will hold your wife’s hand on the front porch and life will be good...

You will find a hair the color of your natural hair

You are going to endure, and trust, and serve and go to heaven

My prayer is that in the good times and bad you will know the grace of a life well lived! May you influence more people for the Lord and His Kingdom than all who have gone before you! The best is yet to be...

“As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

- 2 Timothy 4:5