Trevor Route -- January 7, 2025
Pastors face many challenges in ministry. Perhaps this is why nearly half of the pastors surveyed in 2022 stated they had seriously considered leaving the ministry over that year (Barna Group). These challenges can be even more significant in rural ministry due to a significant lack of community and resources. As I have faced personal challenges in ministry, I have found hope in reorienting myself around a more biblical understanding of my call to pastoral ministry.
Prioritize Your Relationship with the Lord
My most significant challenge in pastoral ministry is the temptation of heartless theological study. I love to learn. I love to read. I love working through complex topics and ideas to understand them. This is why theology is so much fun to me. But, my temptation in theology is to stop short of the true goal of study: heart transformation.
As Paul Tripp beautifully states, “The ultimate purpose of the Word of God is not theological information but heart and life transformation”. Tragically, it is far too easy for me to be content with mere theological information rather than transformation. If I make this a habit, I will become like the Pharisees that Jesus called out in Matthew 23:27-28 who are like white-washed tombs, beautiful on the outside but dead on the inside.
I confronted this challenge by remembering the primacy of my calling to be a disciple of Christ above my calling to pastoral ministry. My primary calling in this life is not to be a pastor or a theologian. My primary calling is to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28-30) and to live as an adopted son of God (Eph. 1:3-6) (Professor Becton). Thankfully, this is a work that God has promised to do in me (Phil. 2:13). Still, it is also something that I am called to participate in actively (Phil. 2:12). Pastor, prioritizing your relationship with the Lord above your calling as a pastor is vital for your spiritual health and the spiritual health of your church.
Battling Discouragement
Another challenge I have faced in pastoral ministry is the temptation to become discouraged with my ministry. It is very easy for me to slip into a state of melancholy, especially regarding ministry. In fact, when working for a campus ministry internationally, I had a hard time believing that any work I was doing would amount to any eternal value. I am not a charismatic person, so I struggled to meet and connect with new people, which was a large part of my ministry! Whenever we had a staff meeting, we looked at our weekly numbers; mine were always the lowest. It was a very difficult season for me.
I confronted this challenge by adopting a biblical view of successful ministry. When Kent Huges struggled with discouragement, he studied success from a biblical point of view. He notes, “As Barbara and I searched the Scriptures, we found no place where it says that God’s servants are called to be successful. Rather, we discovered our call is to be faithful.”
When working internationally, I thought my problem was that I was not outgoing enough. However, I now know that my real problem was that I was not obedient. I was too focused on myself and my performance instead of being faithful. I was making excuses like Moses (Ex. 3-4). Pastor, to battle discouragement in ministry, your goal, above all else, must be to be faithful and trust that His grace is sufficient to use even your weaknesses for His glory (2 Cor. 12:9).
Discontentment
Yet another challenge I have faced in pastoral ministry is discontentment. Sometimes, I think things would be better if I were somewhere other than I am. For example, when I was on staff for a campus ministry, I wanted to work for a church. When I joined the staff at a church, I longed to be at City Church instead. Even now, at City Church, I have many times wished I were somewhere else. In all this, I have learned that it is easy to think that the “solution” to my difficulties is found somewhere other than where I am. It is easy to think that I would be more satisfied if I were at a different church or attended a different seminary.
The way to confront this challenge is to realize that, as long as the Lord has called me to City Church, I am called to be faithful here. He has determined the time and place where I live (Acts 17:26). In the future, He may call me elsewhere. He may break my heart for a specific place and people, like He did for Nehemiah (Neh. 1:1-4). But, until that happens, I must avoid the temptation to create an idealized version of the church I long to work at. This fantasizing will destroy the ministry that is right in front of me. To adapt a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “He who loves his dream of [ministry] more than the [ministry] itself becomes a destroyer of the latter.” Pastor, God has not called you to love the people of a dream church; He has called you to love your brothers and sisters at your church.
Conclusion
Although pastors face many challenges in ministry, there is hope that can be found in a proper understanding of the pastoral call. When facing the challenge of heartless theological study, remember that God has called you to Himself before He called you to pastoral ministry. When facing the challenge of discouragement in ministry, remember that God has called you to be faithful and will equip you to do the work He has called you to. When facing the challenge of discontentment with your church, remember that God has called you to be faithful to the people of your church unless and until he calls you elsewhere. These truths from God’s calling will be balms for your soul as you face these challenges in your ministry.
Barna Group. “Pastors Share Top Reasons They’ve Considered Quitting Ministry in the
Past Year.” Accessed December 4, 2024. https://www.barna.com/research/pastors-
quitting-ministry/.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community. 1st
edition. HarperOne, 2009.
Hughes, R. Kent, and Barbara Hughes. Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome.
Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books, 2008.
Professor Becton’s Lecture, Session 1: The Long View of God’s Call. Fall 2024.
Tripp, Paul David. Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral
Ministry. Wheaton: Crossway, 2012.
Trevor Route grew up in the small town of Canton, PA. After graduating from Pennsylvania College of Technology, he interned at Christ Church in Wellsboro, PA, where he developed a lot for rural ministry, hiking, and ultimate frisbee. He currently serves as the Pastoral Assistant at City Church in Williamsport, PA, and he is pursuing a Master's of Theological Studies from Grimke Seminary.
Comments