Leave Your Ego at the Door

There is no room in ministry for ego. Unfortunately, there are plenty of very large egos throughout ministry and at some point these egos distract from the original focus of the ministry. It’s an interesting dilemma that occurs as the charisma of many is the very reason the ministries themselves took off and had initial success. It’s pretty easy to tell when this occurs, just look at the ministry itself and how much turnover occurs within the ministry team. High turnover will be a sure sign that the focus of the ministry may have been distorted. So how can you be sure that this doesn’t happen to your ministry?

The first step is accountability and processes that do not allow for individuals to distort the focus of the ministry. The second step is to build a team of quality leaders that together as a unit, work together to set and achieve the goals of the ministry. It can never be about one individual, but about those that you are trying to serve. The third step is to constantly assess, challenge your processes, and make them better when needed to continue to grow the success of the ministry.

So how does this affect someone that wants to join the ministry? The first component to anyone joining the ministry team is to be flexible. Flexibility is crucial when working in difficult environments and that is where many ministries operate. The next component is passion. You must be passionate about the role you will perform or the job will be too tough. Ministry work is not for everyone and the addition of faith into the workplace is a unique challenge as the common thought would be that anyone in ministry must be a good person. Unfortunately, sometimes egos get in the way. Some of the most difficult people I have ever worked with were involved with ministry. They may have had good intentions, but they definitely needed to go work somewhere else.

Ministry needs strong, flexible, people that have a passion to serve and a willingness to share their gifts with the less fortunate. Each person has unique skills and applied properly with the right leadership, amazing things will happen with God’s gifts. Every skill is important and anyone that can set aside their own personal egos to partner with others to serve will receive even more in return than they give. It’s a great thing to see in action and it is the very reason that ministries exist to be God’s “hands and feet” in action. If you feel that you are being called, answer the call and let’s join together to make miracles happen.