Pastoral ministry is patterned after the nature of enduring parental love. From the moment children are born, parents begin a lifelong journey of training by instruction and example. Routine and repetition are the parents and the pastor’s best allies. Is it any wonder that Paul often alludes to his ministry in parental terminology (I.e. 1 Thessalonians 2, 2 Timothy 2)? Two words would sum up parenting and pastoring: love and Patience. You cannot effectively persevere in both parental and pastoral ministry if you lack those two qualities. Perseverance is the foundational essence of pastoral life and ministry. And it is the antidote to ministerial frustration and discontentment. Here are six characteristics necessary for ministerial perseverance.
YOU MUST CARE FOR THE PEOPLE
Paul had an up-and-down relationship with the Corinthians, yet his love and care for them were unwavering. He was burdened for them and concerned about their spiritual standing and growth. Paul’s priority was the Corinthians’ best interest, regardless of how they treated or responded to him.
Like loving parenting, enduring pastoral ministry involves living in the trenches daily and in all seasons. It deals with all the cries, laughs, sibling squabbles, talkbacks, failures, and successes. You teach, instruct, rebuke, exhort, and correct with all patience daily. The motivation and drive for all this is to build people up in the most holy faith.
YOU MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
Authority comes with great responsibility. For a pastor to lovingly endure in his ministry, he must grow in his appreciation of the awesome and solemn responsibility that comes with the office. Pastoral ministry comes with privileges and responsibilities. Loving ministers are willing to forego their rights but cannot forego their responsibilities. The minister strives to be enduringly faithful because they are a steward who will be held accountable. They are driven by their devotion to please the Lord as their master.
They want to shepherd the flock the Lord has entrusted to their care. Ministers always looking out for their interests will soon grow weary and disgruntled because shepherding comes with frustrations and hardships. While ministers might forego their rights, they must never relinquish their responsibilities. And this comes with both blessings and burdens.
YOU MUST BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE
One of Paul’s mottoes for Christian life and ministry was to spend and be spent for the cause of Jesus Christ. An enduring pastor is eager to give both what he has and of himself. Not once or twice, but daily. This is hard because sometimes ministers are tempted to think they have sacrificed enough by going into the ministry. But we learn from the life and ministry of Paul that one must be willing to spend and be spent for the sake of Christ daily. They must give everything that they are and everything that they have to serve their Lord and master and to the benefit of their congregation, and they do so with joy. Ministers with an entitled spirit are on a dangerous path to their ruin and do significant harm to the body of Christ.
YOU MUST BE VULNERABLE
A minister must be known for their love for people. A minister must be known for the many relationships they foster with people from all walks of life. They love people to the point that they are personally affected by the seasons others are going through. Pastors will weep with those who are grieving and rejoice with those who are rejoicing. You have a significant burden for the well-being and growth of people under your care.
This love is only possible when you foster and pursue relationships with people, when you are known for who you truly are. And that means you welcome people into your life, and they welcome you into theirs. You are not withdrawn, isolated, or distant. It is possible to minister to people while keeping them at arm's length. You do your preaching and teaching and go back into your safe zone. You are not doing life with them.
To love the people you minister to is to be vulnerable, open yourself up to them, and risk being hurt. Paul experienced this with the Corinthians, after investing in them and pouring his heart out, they attacked him and accused them of all kinds of things. And yet, with so much pain and heartache, he was still invested in them, wrote multiple letters, and was still desirous of going to them. He says to them, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities…” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
To love people is to be vulnerable. Open to hurt. But to love people is to be considerably fulfilled, and through the life-altering relationships that come, pour yourself into people’s lives as they invest into yours. Ministers who withdraw, isolate or put up barriers to keep at bay will be safe from hurt, but extremely miserable, because they will miss out on God’s design for every Christian’s life to live in community and pursue loving, enduring relationships.
CONCLUSION
What made Paul an enduring and joyful minister? Is it his upbringing? Or did he have an iron-clad personality that enabled him to go through walls? Is it possible that brother Paul had an I don’t care attitude and didn’t mind what people said or did to him? All this might be true, but we really cannot tell. What we know for sure is that he relied on God's grace. In his back and forth with the Corinthians, he tells them, He rests in the grace of God, he is content in his own weakness, so that he can rely on Christ's power (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). Enduring, joyful and loving ministry is only possible in the grace and strength of the Lord. Ministers who rely on their gifts, power, and experience will either burn out, blow up, or become grumpy. May God raise us loving, joyful and enduring ministers.
