Introduction

Introduction

YOU can see it in their hollow eyes. On the surface, everything in their ministry appears to be going well. ey are doing all the things ministers are supposed to do- keeping the wheels in the church turning, raising the budget, making sure that what is supposed to happen in the congregation each week does happen. ey are not contemplating leaving the ministrythey are still drawing their pay- but they are just going through the motions. e light has gone out inside. You can see it in their empty eyes.

e hopes they once had for congregational renewal have long since been laid aside. ey are not expecting anything to happen- except that the ecclesiastical wheels will keep on turning. ey are still performing the functions of ministry, but their hearts are no longer in it. ey have detached themselves from their congregations.

ey entered the ministry with such enthusiasm, but it has not turned out as they thought. Congregational apathy, pettiness, and resistance to change; personal inadequacies and failures; lack of support from denominational leaders- all these

2 along with the constant pressure and stress of the daily grind have worn them down. e passion they once had for ministry has been squeezed out of them. eir expectations, many of them no doubt unrealistic, have been shattered. Disillusionment, the child of false expectation, has set in.

O en coupled with disillusionment is deep-seated anger. ey are angry with themselves, the congregation, the denomination. ey are angry at God. Everyone they were counting on to help them realize their dreams for ministry has let them down. ey feel deceived, betrayed.

ey may be unaware of the depth of their anger. By their super cial smiles and disingenuous expressions of concern, they may conceal the anger from their congregations and even themselves, but it is there, seething beneath the surface, eating away at their souls.

Disillusionment and anger breed cynicism. ere is an inner sourness about them that makes them scornful of other ministers, especially those who are wholeheartedly engaged in their work. Nothing is more disconcerting to them than the enthusiasm of those who have not lost their passion. When they are with other ministers, their toughness and cynicism o en come out. ey use humor and sarcasm to ridicule the sincerity of others. ey are negative about any proposal to advance God's kingdom. As a result, they are a pain to be with. ey are demoralizers. Like a dark cloud, their cynicism weighs heavily upon everyone.

Introduction | 3 I'm sure you have known such persons, ministers who have lost their passion for ministry. It is a terrible tragedy when it happens, especially when it progresses to the extent that I've just described.

It is easy for it to happen though, because nothing is depleted more quickly in the daily grind than our passion for ministry. One of our constant challenges is to keep it restored and renewed. If we don't, we will be of little use to God or our congregations. Without vision not only do the people perish (Proverbs 29:18), but so also does the ministry.

John Wesley o en reminded the early Methodist lay preachers, "You have nothing to do but save souls." Good advice. But I would add that in the process of "saving souls," the most important soul each of us has to save is our own. If in our e orts to save others, we lose our own souls, if we lose our passion for ministry, what good will we be to others?

is book, then, is written to help pastors and those engaged in various forms of Christian ministry to "save their own souls" by restoring their passion for ministry. As I have led retreats and workshops for pastors in various parts of the United States, I have become convinced of the incredible need for such restoration and renewal among ministers. In what follows I have tried to address that need.

One thing is certain: when ministers lose their passion for ministry, they lose perspective. ey quickly forget who they are and what ministry is. Spiritual and vocational amnesia sets in. To restore their passion, it is essential for them to be reminded of some basic truths about ministry- truths which they once knew, but have forgotten.

is is exactly what the risen Christ did in His conversation with Peter on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias. When this conversation took place, Peter was a disillusioned, disheartened disciple, if ever there was one. His passion for ministry was gone.

During the Last Supper, he had sworn absolute loyalty to Jesus, "Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death!" (Luke 22:33) only to turn around a few hours later and publicly deny his Lord three times. When he heard the cock crow and realized what he had done, Peter went out and wept bitterly (22:62). Self-assured, self-con dent Peter was now a humble, broken man, totally disillusioned with himself.

But Peter was also disillusioned with Jesus. In a moment of revelation, Peter had declared Him to be the promised Messiah, and Jesus had commended him for that. However, Jesus had not turned out to be the Messiah Peter expected. Palm Sunday shouts of "Hosanna! Hosanna!' soon turned to Good Friday shouts of "Crucify Him! Crucify Him." e One Peter and the others had hoped would redeem Israel (Luke 24:21) was executed in the most degrading manner possible. Some Messiah He turned out to be!

Introduction | 5 Peter was a totally disillusioned disciple. He was ready to quit. Jesus had called him to sh for people. For three years he had followed Him around learning how to do that, all the while waiting for Jesus to establish the kingdom. Now that idealistic venture was over; it was time to return home and sh for sh again.

Jesus was alive- he knew that. He had appeared several times to Peter and the other disciples. But Peter was still discouraged and confused. A er all, you can't base a career on someone who has died and now shows up only occasionally. As for Peter's future as a disciple, there was none. In the light of his out-and-out disloyalty, how could he ever be of any use to Jesus again?

Yet a er breakfast on the lakeshore with the disciples, the risen Christ had a conversation with Peter. He didn't shame him. He didn't say, "I told you so. I told you you'd deny Me." Instead Jesus restored Peter as a disciple. He had called him; now He recalled him. He renewed Peter's passion for ministry.

Jesus did this by reminding Peter of the essentials of ministry- truths he already knew but had forgotten. His ve words to Peter revolve around key elements in ministry:

• "Do you love Me?" • "Feed My sheep." • "You will go where you do not want to go."

• "Follow Me."

• "What is that to you? Follow Me!"

I believe these ve words, along with one other- "Receive the Holy Spirit," a word the risen Christ spoke earlier to the disciples in commissioning them to ministry- can also speak to us to restore our passion for ministry. If we will meditate and re ect upon them, they can cause us to remember what ministry truly is. ey can restore our sense of calling and rekindle our passion.

In the following chapters, we will consider Jesus' words to us about ministry. I like to think of them as the ordination sermon Jesus preached. Every minister needs to be reminded of these basic elements from time to time. In the hurried practice of ministry, it is so easy to lose sight of who we are and what we are supposed to be doing. When this happens, we soon nd ourselves losing our passion.

As we consider them, my prayer is simply that the risen Christ who spoke these words to Peter and the rst disciples will speak personally and directly to you. I pray that you will have a conversation with Jesus- a life- changing conversation which will renew your passion for ministry.