discouragement

When You Cannot Keep Going, Can You Go Again?

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Speaking truth in a world of lies is not easy.  Serving God in a world that hates Him is not comfortable.  Standing for what is right in a world hell-bent on evil is anything but pleasant.  We all know this.  We all feel it.  And there are times when we feel it more vividly. 

What causes discouragement?  Of course, there is the insidious work of the enemy to tear down our resolve and distract our hearts.  Then there are the people who stand opposed, with their ideologies, threats, and apparent power to harm.  But perhaps the greatest discouragement comes from those who should know better.  As the years pass, I see time and again the difficulty posed by other Christians and their reasons why we shouldn’t speak truth, serve God, and stand for what is right quite so boldly. 

I have been encouraged by reading through Jeremiah again in recent days.  God called him to speak God’s message to God’s people.  What could be difficult about that?  In Jeremiah 11:18-23, we see the men of his own hometown conspiring to kill him because he spoke for God.  In Jeremiah 26, he speaks God’s message in the temple courts.  Surely there, the people of God would be responsive to the truth?  No, the prophets, the priests and all the people wanted to kill Jeremiah.  Is it possible to imagine a time when speaking the truth brings condemnation and calls for elimination and death?

In Jeremiah 37-38, we see the prophet being lied about, beaten, imprisoned, and thrown into a cistern to die.  And yet, Jeremiah continued to speak truth, to serve God, to stand for what was right.  Yes, his message was controversial; it was unpopular, as it went against the prevailing narrative, and he knew the consequences of continuing to speak.  And still, he continued to talk about truth, to serve God, and to stand for what was right.

The passage that grips my heart and lifts me to speak again is Jeremiah 20.  In this passage, it was also a priest who opposed Jeremiah.  Pashhur the priest beat the prophet and humiliated him at the gate.  And yet, Jeremiah continued to speak the truth, for God, boldly.  From verse 7, we get a glimpse into the suffering heart of the weeping prophet.  It was not easy to speak God’s truth and to stand for what is right.  We read his cry to God as he is humiliated.  We read his despair as the words he speaks don’t land in the hearts of his listeners, but seem only to rain down blows on his own soul.  Jeremiah seems worn down, his reserves gone, his motivation in tatters.  Later in the lament, he is cursing the day he was born, even the man who came out and announced the news of his birth to his father.  Sometimes the despair can be so vivid that you despise the fact that you were even born at all.  And yet . . .

And yet, there is verse 9.  If it is so hard to speak the truth and stand for what is right, serving God amidst the hostility of the enemy, and even of God’s own people, then maybe it is not worth it?  Perhaps lying spent on the ground, his fuel tank emptied, his inner drive stalling, his motivation poured out in his tears, maybe he should stop speaking?  And yet . . . “there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot.” 

The tears soak the ground.  Tears of grief, of anger, of hurt.  Tears not just at the evil of the enemy, but at the blindness and unwillingness to see among those who are supposedly on the same side.  Tears of loss, tears filled with fear for the future, anger at injustice, weariness from the fight.  The tears may soak the ground, and our energy may be all spent.  And yet, is there not a burning fire still burning in our hearts and shut up in our bones?  We cannot hold it in.

And so, like the weeping prophet of old, we rise to our knees, prayerfully resolute.  We stand again.  We take a breath.  And we speak.  We speak the truth, we serve God, we stand for what is right.  Will those who should be with us change course and start to agree?  Maybe.  They can be won, one heart at a time.  But perhaps they will continue to whisper and plot against us.  Is it worth it?  Can we, like Jeremiah, go again?  We can if we remember who is with us.  “The LORD is with me as a dread warrior.”  (Jeremiah 20:11)

Are you wearied from the battle?  That may be because of opposition from our spiritual enemy, or human forces arrayed against God’s truth, or even from “friendly fire” that sucks the motivation from you.   Pour out all the angst that is built up inside.  Pour it out until there is nothing left.  And then ask yourself, is the fire still burning in my heart and shut up in my bones?  “Alright then, Lord, if you will go with me, I will climb back onto my feet and go again.  I will speak the truth.  I will serve my God.  I will stand for what is right.  The LORD is with me as a dread warrior.”

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The Discouraged Preacher – Conclusion

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

We have considered a lot of possible causes of discouragement over the past week.  David Wilson commented on some of these posts and also sent me some notes from a message he gave on discouragement.  To conclude this series I would like to quote the three simple but critical pieces of advice with which he concluded that message, and then a quote to finish.

How can we avoid discouragement in ministry?

1. Determine to please God alone. We can easily be tempted to pursue the applause of others, or even from ourselves, but the central issue has to be pleasing God only.  Our audience of One.  (See John 8:29, 2Cor.5:9 and Gal.1:10)

2. Spend time alone with God. Just as Jesus spent time alone with the Father, so must we.  Intimacy with Him must come before ministry for Him.

3. Set realistic goals. Some goals are out of our hands, and so can be a source of real discouragement.  Evaluate goals in ministry and make sure they are achievable as we lean on Him for strength and help.

Here’s a closing quote from Warren Wiersbe’s Walking With Giants (p268):

Discouragement is an enemy we must learn to expect, face honestly, and fight with all our strength. No man can preach the good news effectively if he himself is discouraged. We must try to understand the causes of our despair and, above all else, never yield to the expensive luxury of self-pity. The “I-only-am-left” complex can only lead to defeat. There are yet seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal. It would be nice if one of them would step out and stand by our side, but until then, let us dare to believe God’s Word and keep on going.

The Discouraged Preacher – Part 6

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

One last category to consider:

13. When we feel alone as a preacher. When you stand to preach today, you are not alone.  Even in a church with several preachers, it can feel so lonely to sense that others view preaching differently.  Perhaps you are committed to expository preaching, while others persist in another approach.  Perhaps you are the only preacher.  Perhaps you’ve tried to influence other preachers, but they have not responded and your motivation is drained.  Feeling like you’re the only one committed to expository preaching is a tough place to be.  And it can be hard to talk about because it sounds like condemnation of other preachers, or arrogance.  But remember this, you are not alone in your commitment to expository preaching.  As you stand and try to present the true meaning of the text with effective communication and applied relevance to your listeners, you are one of many preachers doing the same.  Obviously it would be better if there were more, but don’t despair and fail to recognize that there are many training institutions teaching expository preaching, there are many organisations advocating for expository preaching, there are many expositors seeking to do the same as you.  We may not be the majority, we may not feel the camaraderie or support where we stand and serve, but we are not alone.

Pray for other expository preachers who you know will be preaching the Word today.

The Discouraged Preacher – Part 5

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

We’ve covered ten categories already.  But there are still others, perhaps ones which we tend not to mention:

11. When numbers don’t matter, but it seems like they do. Hopefully we’d all agree that it doesn’t matter how many you preach to each week.  We don’t want to be caught up in finding self-worth from large numbers or fleshly fame.  But at the same time, numbers can discourage.  Why is it still just a couple of dozen (four of whom can’t hear anyway)?  Why is the church not growing?  It would feel better if a couple of hundred could be helped by my ministry, or a couple of thousand.  This is a real issue that often goes unstated.  It seems unspiritual to mention it.  But it is a category nonetheless.  There is a fine line between a well motivated desire for church growth and wrongly motivated desire for personal accolades.  We can only wrestle this through before God and allow His Spirit to convict that part of our mixed motives that is not pleasing to Him.

12. When we feel so cold spiritually. None of us want to preach when our own walk with the Lord is weak, but Sunday comes ready or not.  People pedestal preachers and we struggle to admit struggle.  But there are times when the heavens seem to be brass and your spiritual fire is more of a smoldering wick.  Times when the best you can hope for is that God has pulled back slightly to work in your character, but fears flash across the mind that it is worse than that – something about candlesticks being taken away, or to be more accurate on an individual level, that the Spirit is grieved.  Or there are times when a sin has a foothold in your life and while you may be repentant, you know the problem persists.  These are very real issues for us, whether we talk about them openly or more likely, not.  Obviously we need God for these things, we pray for that.  But perhaps it’s time to stop resisting the help of others too?  Perhaps God will answer our prayers through other believers, but we need to let them in.

Discouragement may come with the territory, but let’s seek to be discerning as to its source.  Then we can at least pray intelligently about a way to overcome it!

The Discouraged Preacher – Part 4

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We have looked at feedback, both immediate and long-term.  We have considered ministry drain and unhelpful comparisons.  Here are three more sources of discouragement:

8. Lack of Dream Schedule. Many preachers wish they had a better preparation schedule.  Many preachers work another job through the week and are restricted to time grabbed in the early morning, late at night, minutes snatched here and there.  If only I had more time to fully prepare!  But then “full-time” preachers have their time restricted too: pastoral emergencies, family crises, hospital visits, counseling appointments, committee meetings, etc.  We can all plan our schedule, and perhaps many of us could plan a little bit better than we do, but some things will mess with the best of plans.  Consider starting preparation earlier, tweak your time management skills, but remember that we preach to people in a less than ideal world.  We preach from experience, for our preparation is done in a less than ideal world too!

9. Spiritual Attack. We can’t blame the enemy for everything, but it would be naïve to not recognize a spiritual warfare element in any ministry.  The enemy would much rather have a discouraged preacher than a faith-filled, praying, passionate preacher!  Surely every category should drive us to prayer, but surely this one calls us to our knees so that we can stand firm and resist the devil.

10. Non-Preaching Issues. Perhaps work is tough, parenting is a struggle, marriage is tense, other ministry is hurting, health issues have emerged.  Non-preaching issues may improve your preaching in terms of empathy, relevance, vulnerability etc.  But non-preaching issues may add to discouragement in preaching – a time when you give of yourself and personal vulnerability comes to the surface.

Another post to come . . . all in honor of the discouraged preacher.

The Discouraged Preacher – Part 3

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We’ve considered unhelpful “pseudo-feedback,” and lack of the best feedback of all (life change).  Here are a couple more categories to consider:

6. Ministry drain. This can sneak up on a preacher.  Preaching takes a lot out of you.  It uses up stores of energy.  Not only physically, but spiritually, mentally, emotionally and relationally too.  Many preachers point to the post-preaching lethargy they experience.  Most non-preachers are unaware of this phenomenon.  The danger is that we forget it and then misread the drained feeling for discouragement through failure or whatever.  Answers are as common as paperbacks in a bookstore – rest more, exercise more, eat better, drink water, pray longer, pray earlier, have dates with God, have dates with your spouse, wrestle with your children, take Mondays off, etc.  No easy answer, but don’t misread the source of the discouragement.

7. Unhelpful Comparison. Number 1 was comparing your preaching to what you imagined it would be like ahead of time.  This time it is comparing your preaching to others.  It’s good to learn from others.  But don’t beat yourself up because you are not Robinson, MacArthur, Piper, Stanley, Miller, Craddock, Swindoll, Kaiser or whoever your personal favorite might be.  Super-preachers are a blessing to many, perhaps even to us as we listen to them on the radio or at mega-events.  But the people that hear you on Sunday morning need you on Sunday morning.  You may not be super-smooth or super-polished or super-funny or even a super-scholar, but you are a super-blessing as you faithfully preach the Word out of love for God and for them!  Be careful not to get down through unhelpful comparison.

I don’t want to make a post too long, so instead I’ll extend the series.  Another post to follow.

The Discouraged Preacher – Part 2

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In part 1 we saw how feedback can discourage us.  Typically this is not the carefully pursued constructive feedback – that is almost always helpful, and usually very encouraging (either reviewing your own preaching, or getting deliberate input from others).  It is the self-talk in the emotional aftermath of preaching, or the comments from others who perhaps haven’t fully thought through their criticism.  But discouragement can come from other feedback too:

3. Inanely positive feedback. While a critical comment not given carefully can steal joy and motivation, so can a wave of inane niceties.  How many handshakes and smiling “nice message!” comments does it take before discouragement sets in?  Hours of prayerful preparation, pleading at the throne of grace for life change and church renewal, personal sacrifices along the way and all you get is “nice message.”  We’re not entertainers!  Perhaps it is best to hold onto post-message comments very lightly.  Excessive criticism or excessive praise is best left at the throne of God.  The polite comments in between are not necessarily indicators of much at all, other than the listeners’ desire to be polite and appreciative.  You struggle with wording in the sermon, many listeners struggle with the wording of appreciation!

4. No feedback either way! It’s as if the preaching is just an expected element of the service, like notices or the start time.  This feels horrible for the preacher who has given so much.  It would probably be worth asking for feedback from certain people in order to show that you want to preach well, and to guarantee at least a few are listening purposefully!

5. Lack of real change. This is a biggie!  It’s the ultimate feedback on your preaching.  You pour yourself into ministry, believing God uses preaching to transform lives.  Over time you see the same old problems, the same old lack of motivation, the same old squabbles.  The church seems to be standing still or moving backwards.  Many experience this.  Perhaps it points to the need for reinforcement ministry outside the pulpit (discussion groups, Q&A times, personal mentoring, training sessions, etc.)  Perhaps it points to the need for more direct and specific application in the preaching.  Perhaps it simply points to the need to trust God and hang in there . . . sometimes it can take a lot of chipping away before the first cracks in the dam appear.  Preaching is a critical ministry, but it is not the complete answer to the needs of individuals or the church as a whole.  Nevertheless, we preach by faith!

That’s three more.  I’ll add more in part 3.  Feel free to pre-empt that post, or to suggest other categories of discouragement.

The Discouraged Preacher – Part 1

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

When you step into the pulpit to preach, certain things come with the territory.  When you preach, you will be discouraged.  Not every time, hopefully, but fairly regularly.  In this series of posts I want to list sources of that discouragement.  Perhaps there are ways to overcome each one, but I don’t claim to have the answers here.  It is helpful, however, to be able to distinguish between types of discouragement.  In this series I want to recognize and honor the discouraged preachers.  Perhaps the discussion stimulated by this will help us all, whether we are discouraged now or not yet!

1. Falling short of personal expectation. Often the flowing power-packed sermon you knew in the study feels like a stuttering limp effort in delivery.  We can be our own worse critics and it is worth remembering that we spot flaws in our preaching that others don’t see (vice versa is also true, of course!)  You know you missed that illustration, they don’t.  Sometimes it is worth getting feedback either from listeners or by reviewing the CD or video to see for yourself whether it was as bad as you thought.  Typically it wasn’t.

2. Negative feedback. Sometimes we receive feedback that pours cold water on any embers of motivation left after preaching.  It could be a “constructively helpful critic” who feels it is their ministry to spot a hole and point it out (a “well-intentioned dragon!”)  It could be a negatively wired individual whose general demeanor is cloudy and who speaks in a moan – they don’t have to comment on the sermon, just interacting with them steals any joy you may have.  Right after preaching, negative comments don’t have to be about the sermon to make us feel bad about our preaching!  Perhaps a persistent offender could be carefully encouraged to submit feedback later in the week when the emotions aren’t so raw and vulnerable.  Perhaps a persistent moaner will require a different strategy!

In part 2 I will list more sources of discouragement for the preacher.

Feeling Down in the Ministry

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Non-preachers often don’t realize the roller-coaster of ministry.  Due to the exacting nature of ministry – giving out, being buffeted spiritually, etc. – we are all prone to repeated discouragement.  Today as you press on through another Sunday, take stock of the realities of ministry:

Discouragements are par for the course.  A preacher facing discouragement is normal.  One who claims to never get discouraged is a cause for concern.  Remember that if you’re feeling down today, or tomorrow, so are hundreds, maybe thousands of other preachers around the globe.  You are not alone.

God has gifted, prepared and used you.  Look back and spiritually reminisce over those times when God’s gifts have been clear.  Remember the blessing of training received, both formally and informally.  Thank God for the example of past mentors, prayer partners, etc.  Review your file of encouraging notes and emails.

Remember the standard.  It is tempting to try to, or to feel pressured to, live up to the standards of someone else.  Perhaps the previous pastor, or a famous preacher, or a personal ministry hero of yours.  God wants each of us to trust Him and give the best that we can.  Let others inspire, but not pressure.

Remember who to please.  It is not possible to keep everyone happy all the time.  You may preach sensitively and yet tread on toes nonetheless.  We are not called to a ministry of plate spinning where each plate is the emotional happiness of each person around us.  We are called to live a life of radical love for the Lord, where our desire is to please Him in what we do and why we do it.

What else would you add for the sake of fellow preachers who may be feeling discouraged today?

The Sweetest Agony

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Somebody said that preaching is the sweetest agony.  It is sweet when lives are changed.  And it is agony all the rest of the time!

There is nothing as rewarding as seeing lives changed.  Sometimes from a one-off sermon.  Typically over the long haul.  Sometimes it is hard to measure.  Sometimes you receive a note that overtly expresses gratitude for the change that has occurred.  Often you hear nothing.  Since preaching is often more agony than sweetness, it is a good idea to keep some reminders of the sweetness of lives changed.  A drawer where those periodic notes or letters are dropped in, then sit there awaiting a time when you need a reminder of the sweetness of the preaching ministry.  A folder in your email entitled “Encouragements” that you can go back to when the inbox is overwhelming and discouraging.

There is more sweetness to preaching though.  If the sweetness is changed lives, then don’t miss the one life that hears every time you preach.  I don’t mean your spouse, although any encouragements there are worth so much.  I mean you.  Every time you or I prepare a sermon we are involved.  We go through the times of prayer, the valleys, the highs, the wrestling with the text, the grappling with the big idea, the prayerful cutting of material, the sermon run throughs for an audience of two (the Lord, and yourself).  A lot of this process may be agonizing.  Much of it can seem like thankless toil.  But there are good times too.  Times of sweet fellowship with the Lord.  Times of clarity in the exegesis of the text.  Times of blessing and encouragement.  Sweet times.  When these occur, perhaps find a way to mark them just like the thank-you notes above.  Perhaps an entry in a journal, or a note on your notice board, a visual memorial on a shelf . . . something to remind you of how good it can be, and will be again.

Preaching is agony much of the time, it has to be.  But it is a sweet privilege to see God at work in your life, and through you, in the lives of others.