Drop the Anchor || The Ministry of Staying

Updated 2/20/12

I was once told that it’s not until you’ve been in a specific ministry context for at least 3 years that you might begin to see some of the fruit from your labor.

Why?

Because it takes time.

Time to understand our context.

Time to receive, and begin to implement, a vision for that context.

Time to build relationships.

Time to gain the trust of those we work with and work for.

Time to shape the ministry in all the right ways… making tweaks, additions and edits along the way.

Yes, it takes time.

But if you’re anything like me… waiting for ‘fruit’ to appear can be hard.

We, as professionals, can be just as impatient as our students…

And besides, how long is long enough to wait to see a fruitful return for all of our labor anyway?

3 years?

5 years?

10 years?

More???

Sure, some campuses might begin to yield fruit almost instantaneously… because they are ripe. They are ready. They are hungry!

Other campuses, however, will feel quite stingy with their fruit… making us wait… and wait.

Sometimes I find myself living in the tension between the call of Moses — to lead a ‘less than cooperative’ bunch… for 40 years…  40 YEARS! with what must have felt like little to show for all of his efforts — and Jesus’ word to His disciples to simply “move along” if the people did not accept the good news that they (and us too) bring in His name.

Those seem like two very different ideas.

Or maybe two extreme ends of the same spectrum.

On the one end… staying.

Choosing NOT to leave, even though it would be easier… because God has chosen US to lead.

Choosing to struggle through what feels like failure… a lack of obvious fruit.

Choosing to be faithful to the call that God has placed on our life… regardless of the results-to-date.

And then, on the other end of the spectrum… going.

Discerning that it’s time to move on.  Trusting that God has something else in store for us… and for the campus. And while this path can feel easy(ier) — like escaping, or being rescued — it can also bring with it feelings of loss, defeat or disillusionment.

Now, maybe it’s just me, but when times get tough… I’m a lot less likely to ‘drop anchor’ and stick things out; than I am to push away from the shore in search of “something better.”

I don’t want to believe that God will call me to a ministry like Moses’.

I want to be called to a ministry like Joshua’s!

A ministry that entails claiming the prize…

Seeing the fulfillment of a promise…

Enjoying the bountiful harvest of fruit that has resulted from (my, or those who served before me) hard work.

But what if that’s NOT what we’ve been called to do?

Would we know it?

If we’re honest, we ALL believe that we’ve been called to a ministry like Joshua’s.  One that will be full of fruit — success.

But what if we’ve been called, like Moses, to set the stage for a future success… something that we may not have the chance to see?

Are we willing to give ourselves fully to that kind of ministry?

I find myself wondering today:

• Why do we choose to leave?
• When should we choose to stay?
• What if we were to change our default setting from ‘get up and go’ to ‘drop anchor’ in times of struggle?
• What if we were to redefine our criteria for ‘success’ from numbers (or anything else that is outside of our control) to faithfulness to what we’ve been called to?

I’d love to hear what you think about this!

Please take a moment to share your thoughts in the comment section below.  Thanks!