Sometimes ministry doesn’t go as expected. Then what?
Suppose you were given you a paper cup and asked 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?
- Perhaps you’d rip the sides down like beams from the sun to represent looking only at the bright side rather than the negatives.
- Maybe you’d 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.
- Would you want to throw the cup as hard as you could at someone else?
- 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?
Types of Reactions to Ministry Not Going as Expected
Basically, however you would shape the cup, it would depict one of the following reactions:
(Click on a link above for thoughts on that reaction.)
How Would God Want Us to React?
As humans, we tend to have default reactions to when things go wrong. As we lean into God’s power and grace, our natural tendencies come more and more under His control. Our reactions then become more realistically in line with God’s character and ways. We will still acknowledge that the “cup” is the cup (something gone wrong). We will, however, tend to find ourselves peering inside to see what God has for us for “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
The next post provides some questions we can ask to regain perspective when ministry doesn’t go as expected.