The Rewards of Ministry

Those of you in the ministry can see my title, see the picture, and appreciate the joke. Notice that fat roll is full of one-dollar bills!

Pastors are guilty of many things. Generally, our primary sin is that of negativity. Immediately, we will jump to discuss what is wrong with our churches. That's because we are fixers by nature. In order to fix something, we must first identify the problem. Thus, we tend to talk about our problems...a lot.

But, there are rewards in ministry. Great ones. These rewards are seldom financial in nature, although sometimes our churches surprise us. They are seldom found in gratitude, although many people do appreciate us more than we think they do. But rather, the reward comes when you see the light bulbs turn on in people's heads.

I love those moments in ministry.

I love to challenge people. I try not to be too hard, but when I think about it, God doesn't seem to object to the frequent, persistent stretching of ourselves. I love it when people step up, trust God in a new way, and find that He is faithful. I had two testimonies in the past couple of weeks where people referenced something that I preached to show how God was working in their lives. I had somebody else say that they were praying for direction, and twenty-four hours later, after a conversation with me, they knew what God was calling them to do. I can deal with a hundred bullcrap comments from somebody, but when one person says that my preaching helped them, I know that God is using me. That's all I want. I don't want credit; I just want to know that God is using me.

When somebody responds to your ministry, makes a decision that God blesses, and then praises God for His mighty work, it's the most valuable thing in the ministry. And pastors, did you know that through their praises, God is whispering to you, "Well done!"?