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Your Reaction When Ministry Doesn’t Go as Expected

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Sometimes ministry doesn’t go as expected. Then what?

Paper Cup Exercise for Reaction to Ministry Gone WrongSuppose I were to give you a paper cup and ask you to do something with it to represent your typical reaction when ministry goes wrong, or not as expected.

What would you do with the cup?

  • Would you squash it to represent feeling deflated, like you see it as a failure?
  • Would you rip the sides down like beams from the sun to represent looking only at the bright side rather than the negatives?
  • Would you poke holes through the sides and bottom of the cup to look like a sieve, meaning that you let things pass right through you, not thinking much about it or letting it affect you?
  • Or, would you cut around the bottom so it flipped up like a lid, signifying your desire to peer inside to see what you can learn from the situation?

Type of Reactions to Ministry Not Going as Expected

Basically, however you would shape the cup, it would depict one of the following reactions: pessimistic optimistic, apathetic, or realistic.

A pessimistic reaction fails to see the good that God can bring out of even negative, adverse circumstances.

An optimistic reaction sounds right on the surface but deep inside feelings are ignored rather than dealt with, having the potential to build up and eventually come out.

An apathetic reaction at best is a defense mechanism wherein you pretend you don’t care. At worst, it is a heart condition wherein you abort your trust in a sovereign God.

A realistic reaction acknowledges the truth of the situation and your feelings about it but also says “God has something in it for me. I will trust Him.”   See Romans 8:28.

Perhaps you might do something else with your cup to represent your reaction.

  • Would you throw the cup as hard as you could at someone else?

This is what we could call a projected reaction. You identify someone else as the primary cause of the problems and let them have it. Not all of you would verbally confront the person, not wanting to cause waves, but at least inwardly you would cast the blame their way, perhaps holding a grudge or losing trust in any future involvement from them.

God’s word about this kind of reaction? — “Speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) Imitate the Son who was full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14). Don’t ignore the truth of your situation. Deal with it, yet deal with it in ways that say “I care.”

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