strengths
12 Ways to Rekindle Your Passion for Ministry (part 2)
21/05/20 Filed in: Pastor | Church Leadership
Using this scale: 1: “It couldn’t be any worse” or 10: “It really can’t get any better” – how would you assess these three rekindling activities:
__ I am relaxed in my humanity. While I am always journeying toward greater Christlikeness, I am not placing unrealistic expectations on myself in that journey.
__ I have revisited my calling. I spent time thinking about and reconnecting with what drew my passion for ministry in the first place.
__ I am renewing my soul. I am spending time with the Lord in the Word and in prayer. I am also connecting with Him in ways that are congruent with how I am designed.
Once you have scaled yourself on these three activities, ask yourself how you would know you had moved a point higher. What would be different in you? What would you notice that tells you that you have shifted? What would others notice? Then think about how you can implement changes that move you in that direction.
Now on to three more rekindling activities:
4. Reorganise your Schedule
While we are slowly creeping back to what looks familiar, now is the time to ask yourself what your new normal will look like. What priorities shifts have you made in the last two months? What have you found is not as important as you once thought it was? What have you been doing differently that you have found to be nourishing for your soul?I invite you to thoughtfully consider what Eugene Peterson wrote in The Contemplative Pastor:
“…the word busy is the symptom not of commitment but of betrayal. It is not devotion but defection. The adjective busy set as a modifier to pastor should sound to our ears like adulterous to characterize a wife or embezzling to describe a banker. It is an outrageous scandal, a blasphemous affront.”
5. Rediscover your Strengths
Gift Projection. It’s a term I first came across in Bible College. It happens when we read about or see one of the “heroes” who has accomplished great things for God in mighty ways. We then decide we want to be the same and try to accomplish what they did…only without their giftings. Frustration ensues, so we try harder. As we try harder…and remain unsuccessful…passion for ministry wanes.God has wired you to serve the way He wants you to serve Him. You have gifts, strengths, and experiences that are unique to you. Walk in those Holy Spirit-given, God-empowered gifts! Be who God made you to be.
When I turned 40, I became comfortable with who I am. When I turned 50, I became comfortable with who I am not. The second understanding was far more powerful than the first. You don’t have to wait until your 40s and 50s to get to these places. It just took me that long to hear what God had been saying all along. Rediscover who God made you to be and minister from that place rather than someone else’s.
6. Remember God’s Promises
A waning passion for ministry often comes when difficulties seem insurmountable, or when you can’t see the next step forward, or when it seems like nothing is working, or… The answer for all of this is to remember these words: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). In that promise of God’s constant presence, remember all the other promises God has made and that you have appropriated. Reminding yourself that you are not in the ministry by yourself – even when it might feel like it – and that God is always with you, empowering you, guiding you, blessing you, and using you for His glory is a great way of rekindling your ministry passion.So, more for you to consider. Sitting around hoping your passion for ministry just shows up again seldom works. Actually, I don’t know that it ever works! But taking these steps can begin to move you toward rekindling your ministry passion.