March 27, 2025
I’ve never accepted a ministry position that — in the first six months — I didn’t want to go back to what I was doing before.
In fact, if your new ministry position doesn’t require you to grow into it, then I wonder whether the Lord called you to that role.
The Lord stretches His people. Go ask Paul, Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Esther and more. The Lord always calls His people to live in a posture of dependence on Him and gives us ministry assignments that facilitate that dependence.
But growth is painful. In fact, Henry Cloud says that change (replace with the word growth for the purpose of this article) always involves some level of pain. Cloud writes, “We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing.”
While none of us want to invite pain into our lives, all of us want to experience growth. Growing in our calling and profession honors both Jesus and the people we serve. When we stop growing, we begin to decline in impact and ministry effectiveness. How can we grow into our God-assigned roles?
1. Accept current reality: There is always grief over leaving a position and excitement about a new one. That excitement, or honeymoon phase, is often short lived as we discover new challenges for which we often feel ill-equipped. Accepting that we need to learn new skills paves the way to discovering that God is fully able to teach us what we need to know to serve faithfully in the assignment He has given us.
2. Ask God for help: King Jehoshaphat’s prayer can be our prayer. He prayed in 2 Chronicles 20:12, “O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Louie Giglio in a Christianity Today article wrote, “When the Old Testament king Jehoshaphat received word that three armies had conspired together and were coming against him in one massive assault, he made a decisive and unconventional leadership move. Every leader around the globe is in a similar predicament.” Giglio was referencing the global Covid-19 pandemic, but the reality is that we ministry leaders will regularly find themselves calling out to God for help as we are often in over our head. And God who called us will also help us.
3. Invite others into the process: I enjoyed a meal recently with a young pastor who described a challenging ministry assignment that would have taxed the most seasoned leader. This faithful brother gathered a group of older ministry leaders to help him process what he was experiencing. Their combined wisdom and care allowed him to see clearly the nature of his circumstances and develop a plan to navigate it successfully. There are seasoned ministry leaders you can talk to about your own ministry assignment. You should consider using them — and they should be willing to help.
4. Immerse yourself in helpful content: We live in a day of easily accessible helpful ministry development content designed with specific ministry leadership recipients in mind. Whether you are a pastor, student leader, worship leader, non-profit director or any other number of other leadership positions, there are journals, podcasts, books, seminars, cohorts and courses designed to help you flourish in your role. One of the easiest ways to normalize the growth needed for your new position is to avail yourself of this material.
5. Fellowship with ministry colleagues: Proverbs 27:17 reminds us that, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” There is a great synergistic benefit to spending time with others who share in a ministry leadership calling. When you spend time in formal and informal settings with other ministry leaders, you will discover yourself being challenged and encouraged by what you see in their lives and ministries.
Ultimately it is God who grows us into our individual callings and ministry assignments. Each leader feels overwhelmed at some point, but that in and of itself is no indication that you are not called to your position. That sense of being out of your depth should be a trigger to call on the Lord in prayer, apply some of these growth tips and ultimately rest in the Lord to grow you into the assignment He has given you. You may be amazed at what He does in your life.
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Todd Gray is executive director-treasurer of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. This commentary first appeared in Kentucky Today.
