Motivation Matters

ByAdministrator

When it comes to ministry – motivation matters.  When I felt the call to ministry years ago my motivation was rooted in my love for the Lord and the desire to please Him by serving his people well.  After preparing for ministry and being called as pastor in my first church, I continued to be motivated by the same reasons.  I soon learned that it wasn’t enough.  I tried my best to help the congregation God appointed me to serve – to fulfill the Great Commission.  They were good people, but my ministry had some difficult moments and I struggled to lead well.  I was frustrated and they were too.  A turning point was when I revisited the Great Commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and most important commandment.  The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Matt. 22:37-39). Trying to accomplish the Great Commission without fulfilling the Great Commandment is exhausting.  I loved the Lord and wanted my church to faithfully make disciples, but I had to come to the place of realizing that I didn’t love the congregation like I should. They became problems rather than people needing a loving shepherd committed to knowing, loving, feeding and protecting them.  I had to repent of my pride of loving myself and learn to love my neighbor (in this case my parishioners) better.  Doing so changed the trajectory of my ministry and my level of fulfillment.  While serving God’s people can still be frustrating, leading out of a motivation of love makes all the difference.  Our motivation truly does matter. – Dr. Gary Mathes

Similar Posts

  • GIFT at Christmas

    ByAdministrator

    Tis the season that most churches see an increase in attendance.  It has been my observation that often churches will welcome and encourage their guests to let them know who they are and offer a gift as an incentive.  In the “passing on what I have learned department,” let me share another GIFT you can…

  • Healthy Targets

    ByAdministrator

    Healthy Identity – Worshippers For the next number of weeks, I am going to do a series of articles on the nine targets for a healthy church.  I serve as one of the Zone Leaders for the MBC Resound Network, and in our work of revitalization, we have identified markers that reflect when a church…

  • Shaping Your Values

    ByAdministrator

    Last week I began to address the definition and purpose of values and why describing the values that shape your church is so important.  Values are the shared convictions a church holds to; they are the common heartbeat of a congregation that inform and drive the motivation for its missional and ministry activities. When describing…

  • Watershed Question

    ByAdministrator

    I recently shared with a few churches the concept of a church lifecycle bell curve.  It demonstrates the growth, maturation, plateau and decline most churches often experience.  When a congregation self discovers that it has plateaued or is experiencing decline, there is an important question the leaders need to ask.  The essential watershed query is,…