The Romance of Ministry
Serving Jesus is the most incredible, adventurous, life-changing thing in the world. Ministry
is like no other work in the world! And, ministry is heartache, and stress, and failure, and rejection, and misunderstanding, and financial insecurity, and despair and loneliness and did I mention rejection?
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You know, writing a newsletter to let people know what you're doing is a real challenge in
honesty and faith. I've been writing them since 1975. 20 years! And, I've been reading
others' newsletters for 20 years, maybe 25. They vary in scope and style, from church
bulletins of varying creativity or blandness, to prophetic bombshells (David Wilkerson) to
deeply moving heart letters. Then, there came the Madison Avenue ones. "We are in a
CRISIS! The devil and I are in the BOXING RING!" (Complete with a graphic art depiction of
the Evangelist and an ugly demon.) Everything was a crisis - bold print, italics - and
underlined in RED.
At first, I was impressed, because my name was in the letter, several times! Then came "The"
letter which shattered my naiveté:
"Dear Mrs. G. Reit,
You are one of our dearest friends! Without your immediate gift of $1,000, we won't make it,
Mrs. G. Reit!" Not an exact reading, but close. Well, I'm not married, and I'm male. So I
figured the letter was a fraud. That's when I learned big ministries were paying big-name Washington political firms multiple thousands of dollars to write and send those letters, red ink and personalized. One secular magazine showed a politician's pre-fab mass mailing letter, and it was exactly the same as the ministry pre-fab letters I'd received. It was disheartening.
Then, of course, came product newsletters; splinters from the cross Jesus died on, even a
piece of Jewish lamb's wool, which if you placed your hand on it would heal you. It was
sickening.
Admittedly, the one I was most moved by and drawn to was the Covenant House for Teens
letter by Father Bruce Ritter, which was real life about real kids, raw and challenging. The
discovery of Bruce Ritter's pedophile crimes was a great hurt to me and many other
supporters as well.
As for me, I've learned slowly. My early letters were filled with too much jargon and painted
a rosy picture than belied the internal struggle behind the work. Then, in reading Amy
Carmichael's books, I found a heart I could identify with. She deliberately turned away from
writing the kinds of newsletters missionaries sent and supporters expected: Only positive
reports, glowing with news of salvations and victories. She would come to be criticized for
her realistic, honest portrayals of life on the mission field. She called her letter, "Things As
They are."
And so, in 1990 or so, my "Where I Live" newsletters became "Things As They Are", and I've
tried to write honestly, without compromise, without flourish, frill or hidden things. I value
Paul's words about renouncing hidden things of dishonesty. It's important to me.
That's not to say I haven't thrown a few letters out. After all, what would you think if I wrote,
"Dear Friends, I've had it. I'm broke. The kids are making me crazy. I don't eat, I don't sleep, and I'm getting fat and old. Pray for me, I'm running away..." Well, somewhere in between that and "everything's glorious", I hope I'm striking a good balance. Some of your letters tell me I'm getting there. I try to stay honest and hopeful too, real but also full of promise for the future. Even though I throw out a few letters that may be deemed too negative, I still hope to one day be bold enough to write and send out articles on "The Eternal Sheephood of Some Believers" and "Parishioners That Abuse".
Words are powerful. And even in my attempts at honesty, I find we all have an inborn
tendency to romanticize the ministry from both sides of it - those who do it, and those who
wish they could. Someone with a 9 to 5 job, a family and a relatively uneventful life can
easily read or hear about front-line work and think two things: One: "That's got to be so
exciting! I'd love to be doing that!" And two: "My life is so meaningless. I'll never be able to
do something significant for God."
These precious folks need to know that everyone is called to ministry. The best and most real
work of God, in my opinion, is done with you in your workplace, family and circle of friends
and neighbors. I often long for the real life, daily contact and opportunity to share Jesus
with people the "ministry" excludes me from!
Second, yes, the "ministry" can be exciting. It's also, and more often, trudge, boredom,
paperwork, isolation, loneliness and frustration. It's about divisive people and petty
concerns and meaningless distractions and endless delays.
My writings are as real as I can make them. There are victories - great ones. The kids and
young folk here can say things that are so eternal that I weep. Then you get a phone message
from one you loved who left God, one you loved more than life, who became bitter and you
find yourself being called the lowest, hypocritical scum and a flurry of other non printable,
hateful insults (on a phone message, of course, so you have no defense) and you cry, and ask
why, and want to die! You failed and they hate you for failing them and suddenly every good
and precious thing you gave and shared is trampled and forgotten. No heartbreak equals this
kind. The romance is shattered; but you can't quit, because it's in your blood. And, there's the one
who writes and says, "I won't let you or Jesus down." And that's the terrifying, confusing
reality of real ministry.
More than one has come to us to help, full of romance about ministry and kids. They felt, as I
once did, that hugs and kisses and love could conquer all. They don't. Once I put my hand on
a young lady's shoulder after she'd thanked me for being such a good pastor. And she
slapped me - in front of everyone! I did not know she was walking through a memory of being
molested. It was devastating, but I said nothing, crying alone later - after everyone left.
That's ministry! It tests and brings out all you are, for good or for bad, the hidden stuff of the
heart.
Others have left after realizing the ministry is 95% perspiration, 5% inspiration. It costs
everything. It's real life, conflicts, sleeplessness, grueling prayer. It costs everything! It
takes teamwork, obedience, guts, faithfulness and a no-surrender heart.
I've recently been shown that there is a generation of kids and children who are so numb,
battered, abused and angry that hugs, love and warmth won't cure them. Only faithful love
and time, honesty and truth, and endurance can heal these wounded hearts. You'll endure
insults, blasphemy, failure, rejection, anger and betrayal. But then, one will grab on to God
and make it real, and he will heal, and if there's romance to this work, that's it. For the one.
No matter how bloody the battle. No matter how long it takes.
Only brave hearts need apply.
Gregory Reid
(This article is an excerpt from the book, "Healing In His Wings". For information on
obtaining this book, follow this link: