What It Takes

A cute figure and a sharp car may bring two people together and cause them to go out a time or two. But if that relationship is to develop into a long and meaningful marriage other forces will have to come into play…things like commitment, trust, and forgiveness.

The ministry is like that too. What attracts a person to the ministry may not be what keeps a person committed through the years of study and preparation, the long hours of work, and the disappointments that are bound to happen.

An engaging youth worker, a helpful pastor, an experience at camp…maybe a challenging sermon… may help a person decide to become a minister. But other things must happen if effective ministry is to develop. She must be able to see how her gifts have a place in God's intentions for the world. He needs to realize that he is important but not essential for God's will to be made known.

There are many ways that ministry can take place. Teachers and musicians, chaplains and counselors, pastors and administrators…all are a part of the umbrella called ministry. But none of them provides instant gratification. Ministers help people grow. They help institutions change. And that takes time and the ability to wait…and also to be disappointed.

One of our country's leading Christian thinkers, Reinhold Niebuhr, once put it this way: "Anything worth devoting one's life to requires more than a lifetime to achieve."

Robert H. Boyte