Realistic Techniques for Ministry Survival
By Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Persevere and Pursue Gentleness
“Pursue hupomone, perseverance, one of my favorite words. This is holding up under the load. Being a person of long-term, long-standing determination, patience, endurance is the word. Perseverance. Pursue that. And gentleness. Mixture of humility and meekness. There’s no place, as we’ve said, for boasting. No reason for showing off or blowing your own horn. If you’re good, others know it. If you’re worth finding, they’ll find you. You don’t need an agent. You don’t need self-promotion. It will all come out just simply through the faithfulness of your ministry. It’ll be detected. And that’s why he says pursue gentleness.”
Determine What is Worth the Fight
“You will find times in ministry when you must fight. And sometimes the fight will be worth your job. Sometimes the fight will be worth a friendship. Stay in the fight. Do battle where it’s necessary. But understand, not everything is worth the fight. One of the best pieces of counsel I got before I came back to seminary came from Clyde Cook when he said to me something not original to him and certainly wouldn’t be the first time you’ve heard it, but it helped me. He said, ‘Just choose your battles real carefully. Most of them aren’t worth it. If it’s worth it, go down swinging.’ But there’s no reason to fight like that every week or to go after something as though it is always that important.”
Flee from Conceit
“Flee from conceit. I warn all of us regarding the great tendency to focus on ourselves. Ministry is a severe calling. It’s, in my opinion, the highest of all callings but it is one that so easily brings one down. Most of our work is done before a group of people, sometime large groups. Much of what we do requires a knowledge of the Scriptures which most people don’t have and that puts us again in a role of authority. On top of all the other temptations there is the great temptation to be elevated regarding our own training and that again can pull rank on others. I think the very practical counsel to flee from conceit is appropriate for all of us.”
Stand for What is Right without Fighting Others
“Flee from a fighting spirit. It’s wonderful to have a theology that we feel we can defend from the Scriptures and there’s everything right about standing for what we believe is true. I’ll say more about that as we work our way through this passage. But fighting for the truth is not the same as fighting others in matters of inconsequential issues. Learn to let things go. Most things are not worth the argument and at the time it seems so important that we stand against that individual and you’ll find as days pass it really wasn’t that important. Controversial questions and disputes and friction, flee from that.”
Pursue Love
“Pursue love. Love for others, love for the Lord God. I think the best definition I ever read: ‘Love is seeking the highest good of the other person.’ Pursue that. Doesn’t mean you tell the other person what they want to hear. It means out of love you tell them what they need to hear. What is best. What is for their highest good. And pursuing that as a habit of life is a characteristic of a person, a man or woman of God.”
Additional Resources
First, sign up for our Chuck’s Insights on Ministry email where we bring you his best thoughts on preaching, leadership, and ministry each week. By signing up, you’ll instantly receive a one-page checklist with 20 preaching insights from Chuck. See this page’s sidebar.
Second, check out our new Preach The Word articles and video series on YouTube where we’re teaching Chuck’s best insights on this important calling.
Third, listen to Chuck’s messages to those in ministry through our Seminary Chapels page. For decades, he offered students at Dallas Theological Seminary his best thoughts on church leadership and ministry. Now, we have put them at your fingertips. Also, you can find them through this YouTube playlist we created for you.
Fourth, if you don’t own a copy of Chuck’s book on preaching, Saying It Well, we highly recommend you add it to your library. It’s his preaching memoir that is also like a practical preaching manual. You won’t be able to put it down.
About the author
Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Pastor Charles R. Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word. He is the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, but Chuck’s listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. As a leading program in Christian broadcasting since 1979, Insight for Living airs around the world. Chuck’s leadership as president and now chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary has helped prepare and equip a new generation of men and women for ministry.
