As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other. Philippians 1:22-26

Sometimes the job of being a spiritual leader (pastor, worship leader, church secretary, small group leader, etc) can be overwhelming. Sure, I can look at the life of Paul and say, “At least I haven’t been beaten or thrown in jail.” But, the truth is that the work of ministry can be tiring.
Everyone wants to quit at one point in time or another. I have wanted to give up on ministry more times than I can count. But, I keep coming back. Why? Because it is who I am. So, I keep coming back.

I believe it is important for the people we lead to know that we are human and want to give up sometimes. Paul used his life as an example to the churches he oversaw. He also told them that he didn’t always do what he knew was right.

Recently, my sister wrote of her own internal struggle with the grace for ministry. I’ve felt that way in times past but did not write about it. The truth is, every pastor, teacher, politician, sales person, entrepreneur, husband, wife or human has felt the same. Abbye is doing an amazing job and she works hard trying to balance ministry and family. I think, in many ways, her blog is a modern day letter to the church.

Maybe she should rename her blog to Letters To The Modern Church.

What do you think?