When Ministry Doesn’t Feel Like Home

We are hoping for something we do not have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently. Romans 8:25

All of us know what it is like to be in a house that is not our own. Maybe it was a dorm room or military barrack. Maybe it was the home of a relative or a hotel room. They may be warm, and there may be food, but they are a far cry from “your father’s house”. Your father’s house is where your father is….this is where you belong. 

As pastors, we don’t always feel welcomed “here” on earth. At times we wonder if there is even a place here for us. People can make you feel unwanted. Rejection can make you feel like an intruder. Lack of support can make you feel like a failure. We navigate the delicate tightrope of ambition and surrender, all the while spinning the plates of ministry, family, finances, staff, and people (just to name a few) only to feel like it’s all about to come crashing down. It’s in these moments that we often feel like we’re living in a different world than everyone else. Needless to say, we don’t always feel “at home” here and the truth is, we shouldn’t because we are in fact strangers in a land that is not our own.  

I live here, I pastor here, I serve here, I give my life here, but “here” is not my home. Could this be why we see so much negativity around us? Is this why we see the community we so desire to reach divided over racial and social issues? Would this be the reason conflicts and struggles seem to increase among the congregation of saints we so desire to love, protect, and comfort? 

Could the struggles and conflicts of life, of ministry, of people, simply be allowed at times by God to challenge our love for the earth as a means to prepare us for a better place - Heaven, where we rightfully belong. That is our real home. 

Think about it! Imagine you are in your car driving home. Thoughts are racing through your mind of the game you are about to watch or the food you plan to eat when suddenly a sound unlike anything you have ever heard fills the air. The sound is high above you. A trumpet? A choir of trumpets? You don’t know, but you are for sure going to look. You pull over to find you are not the only one looking. The highway has become a parking lot as multitudes of people are staring into the sky. Shoppers are racing out of the stores and mall. The little league ball game across the street has come to a halt as players and parents are searching the clouds. And what they see and what you see has never been seen before. 

The sky lights up like a million-watt bulb and though you can’t see anything, you begin to hear a choir singing in unison, “Holy, Holy, Holy”. Between each word is a pause. With each word is profound reverence. You hear your own voice join in the chorus. You are not sure why you are saying the words, but something in you says you must.

Suddenly, the Heavens become quiet. The angels turn, you turn, the entire world turns, and there he is, Jesus. Through waves of light, you see the silhouetted figure of Christ the King. He is atop a great stallion, and the stallion is on top of a billowing cloud. He opens his mouth, and you are surrounded by his declaration, “I am the Alpha and Omega”. 

The angels bow their heads. The elders remove their crowns. And before you is a figure so consuming that you instantly know, that nothing else matters now. Forget the stock market and school reports. Forget how many were in attendance or how large the offering was. Forget who walked out on you and ghosted you and your family for no reason. Forget the disappointments and rejection you have endured. Forget how fast your ministry has grown or how many buildings you now own. Nothing else is now even newsworthy. All those things that seemed to matter the most now don’t, Christ has come. We are going home. We are going where our Father is, where He waits for us. 

At Pastor to Pastor, we want to encourage you as ministers to never forget. This world is not our home. We are pilgrims passing through. While we're here, we have been given the greatest mission ever assigned, to reach lost and broken people with the message and hope of Jesus. This is a worthy mission that requires tremendous focus and a constant reminder that why we do this, is far more important than what we’re doing. Let me encourage you today. Don’t let the cares and struggles of ministry and life get you so focused on Earth, that you forget your eternal home is in Heaven, where your Heavenly Father is.