By Dan Reiland –<\/p>\n
Working on a church team for a few years is great, but when you invest your lifetime, career effort, and energy, it\u2019s a different thing. It is clearly awesome, but it requires a different level of intentionality. Your purpose and calling must be clear.<\/p>\n
This will encourage you; there are countless church leaders, including myself, decades in and still going strong and with great passion. It\u2019s not always easy, that\u2019s true, but nothing worthwhile is.<\/em><\/p>\n Local church leadership can be a bit like the beauty and the beast, the art is to know how to tame the beast and embrace the beauty.<\/p>\n Tame the Beast:<\/p>\n You could add another example, but let\u2019s go to the beauty.<\/p>\n Embrace the Beauty:<\/p>\n I\u2019m confident you could add more examples, but let\u2019s dive a little deeper.<\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing quite like serving the church with career focus and energy; its truly a gift to those who are called.<\/em><\/p>\n 7 priorities to help make your life\u2019s work in ministry one you\u2019d say: \u201cI\u2019d do it all over again!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n 1) Understand the difference between identity and calling.<\/strong> All Christians are called to serve<\/em>, and we can faithfully fulfill that calling from any choice of career, but there is a uniqueness to full time ministry. It\u2019s not better, but it does carry very distinct facets that require our awareness and attention.<\/p>\n Your identity in Christ is your priority, and your purpose and passion is expressed through your work.<\/p>\n Keeping your identity in Christ as the priority helps you remember that family and faith are first, and they serve as fuel for your work.<\/p>\n 2) Embrace the balance of leadership and followership.<\/strong> Going the distance in ministry, while remaining both emotionally healthy and strategically productive, requires a willingness to follow and the courage to lead.<\/p>\n 3) Give yourself permission to tell the truth.<\/strong> Be honest with yourself about those days (or season), and be sure to talk about it with a trusted friend, mentor or counselor. Don\u2019t let it build up. You have too much value to contribute to waste it by bottling up and storing the enemy\u2019s attacks.<\/p>\n No one expects you to be a perfect or superhuman leader; if they do, don\u2019t fall prey to that expectation. Work hard, do your best, and love people, but take care of yourself.<\/p>\n Candidly we often place those unrealistic expectations on ourselves.\u00a0Trust God to do what you can\u2019t do.<\/em><\/p>\n 4) Find your way to the best environment over the perfect job.<\/strong> It is wise to find a healthy environment to serve in over seeking the perfect job. Your dream job in an unhealthy environment is often a \u201cbeast\u201d of a nightmare over the long-haul.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like a professional baseball player who is a good pitcher, and wants to pitch, but lands a job in a terrible organization. It\u2019s not worth it, is it? It\u2019s better to play another position, and in time, hope to pitch in a great organization. You are still in the game and it\u2019s so much more enjoyable.<\/p>\n The next question is, can\u2019t we have both? Yes, that\u2019s the dream and prayer. But I\u2019ve found that taking the right job (not the dream job) at the right time in a healthy and productive environment leads to (or becomes) your perfect job.<\/p>\n 5) Obsess over hearing God\u2019s voice.<\/strong> \u201cObsess\u201d might not be the right word, but I can\u2019t think of a better one to express the passion and importance of seeking after and hearing God\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n Hearing God\u2019s voice ought to be the first bullet point in all our job descriptions.<\/p>\n In everything, from vision-casting to decision-making to resolving conflict, nothing is more important than hearing from God!<\/em><\/p>\n As a spiritual leader in the church, your walk with God is above all else. Set time aside for prayer and lean in to hear His voice.<\/p>\n What is the last thing you heard God say to you?<\/p>\n 6) Learn to lead through setbacks and suffering.<\/strong> From financial setbacks to the suffering of betrayal by a friend, like the narratives in scripture, career ministry is not exempt from challenging circumstances.<\/p>\n Developing resilience in our character to bounce back from setbacks and seeking to grow from our sufferings is part of what brings meaning and beauty to ministry. This is not a morbid idea; it is the example Jesus set before us.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t need to seek setbacks and suffer, that is dark, but we should not run from it by avoiding the tough parts of ministry.<\/p>\n 7) Think and play the long game.\u00a0<\/strong> Very few things in the church are microwavable. They take time.<\/p>\n The one great contradiction is our worship services, they arrive about fifty-two weekends a year ready or not. That fact can fool us about the rest of ministry.<\/p>\n The point of ministry is always people, and their transformation cannot be rushed. Neither can your development as a leader along with the pace in which you were designed to run.<\/p>\n If you want to go the distance in ministry, pace yourself by finding margin, establishing boundaries, loving your family and make sure you laugh every day.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2024 Dan Reiland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Dan Reiland – Working on a church team for a few years is great, but when you invest your lifetime, career effort, and energy, it\u2019s a different thing. It is clearly awesome, but it requires a different level of intentionality. Your purpose and calling must be clear. This will encourage you; there are countless <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":84256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3380,4661,276,266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-leadership-articles","category-resources-ndi","category-sunday-school-and-discipleship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nYour work is not the foundation of your identity, but it is the expression of your calling. Your identity is in Christ and your calling to local church ministry fulfills your God designed purpose.<\/p>\n
\nA great way to think about followership as a Christian leader starts here: \u201cWhoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 9:23<\/p>\n\n
\nNot every day is a perfect day in ministry, but don\u2019t listen to the lies. The enemy\u2019s #1 tactic to take you out is discouragement. There is purpose and beauty even in the difficult days.<\/p>\n
\nA frequent conversation with young leaders is how to land their perfect job. It\u2019s a legit question. We all want to be in a role that fits our gifting and ability, but your dream job is not the first priority.<\/p>\n
\nWhen you give your life to serving others, it\u2019s possible to over give. Jesus didn\u2019t say yes to everyone. Listen to God\u2019s voice, He will give you guidance.<\/p>\n
\nAdvancing the Kingdom of God is not for the faint of heart. There is a price to pay, but the beauty in the eternal results is far greater than any sacrifice we might make.<\/p>\n
\nCareer ministry leadership is more like a marathon than a sprint. We must pace the run, or fall short before the race is over.<\/p>\n