Rediscovering Your Impact in Ministry

Ever wonder if your hard work in ministry is really making a difference? Join me, Todd Rhoades, as we explore this common dilemma many pastors and church staff face. You'll gain powerful insights and practical advice to shift your focus from numbers to genuine faithfulness and integrity. Discover how to combat feelings of insignificance and reconnect with your core purpose, ensuring that you find joy and fulfillment in the small victories.

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, you'll learn strategies to celebrate small wins and rediscover your impact. It's not about comparing yourself to others or getting bogged down by attendance figures; it's about showing up every day with integrity and passion. Listen in as we discuss how to stay motivated, reignite your passion for ministry, and remember why you answered the call to serve in the first place. Join us for an encouraging and uplifting conversation that will help you see the profound difference you're making, even when it feels like your efforts go unnoticed.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Hi there, welcome to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Today we're going to be tackling a feeling that can creep into the hearts of even the most dedicated pastor and church staff member, and that's the sense that I'm working really hard, but am I really making a difference? Thanks for joining me. I am your host, todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom, and you're listening to the Healthy Church Podcast. You pour your heart and your soul into your work. Maybe you preach, you teach, you, counsel, you serve your work. Maybe you preach, you teach, you counsel, you serve.

Speaker 1: 0:45

Sometimes you just walk away, you leave the office at the end of the day and it just all feels like it's for naught. You wonder if anyone's truly being impacted. You wonder if your efforts are really making any real difference in the world, and if you've ever felt this way, I just want to let you know right now, today, that you are not alone. Ministry, as I've said many times on this podcast, can be a lonely road and it's filled with challenges and setbacks and moments of doubt, and it's really easy to get discouraged and to feel like you're spinning your wheels or to question if you're even really in the right place at the right church doing the right things, even question your calling to ministry. But here's the truth you are making a difference. Now, todd, you don't know me. How can you say I'm making a difference? You're just blowing smoke. But let me tell you this even when you can't see it, and even when you can't feel it, when you feel like you're feeling, god is using you. I'm convinced of this. God is using you in ways that you may never fully understand. Let me say that again I firmly believe that God is using you today, right where you are. God is using you in ways that you may never fully understand. So how do you combat those feelings Because the feelings don't just go away those feelings of insignificance? How do you get rid of those and combat those feelings and rediscover your impact in ministry?

Speaker 1: 2:25

Here are a few things that I think will maybe help you today. The first of all is maybe you're just in a rut. Maybe you need to shift your focus. Instead of focusing on butts and bucks, which is what a lot of us do, instead of focusing on numbers or those visible results that everybody's measuring, instead of comparing yourself to Andy Stanley, focus on faithfulness. Are you showing up every day? Are you giving it your best? Are you serving with integrity? Because that I don't think that God's keeping a spreadsheet on you on your baptism numbers or on your attendance numbers, or even on your offering numbers. I doubt that God's keeping a spreadsheet on you on your baptism numbers or on your attendance numbers, or even on your offering numbers. I doubt that he's got a Google sheet that he's sharing with Jesus, that Jesus is sharing with God, the Father or the Holy Spirit. I think that he is looking, though, at how well you're serving him and how faithful you're being. So numbers are important, right, I've heard it before, and I totally believe that we count numbers, because every number represents an individual. That's important to God and that is absolutely true, but don't put all of your focus on that. Maybe today you just need to concentrate on being faithful, and maybe that will make a huge difference and help get you out of this hole that you feel like you're in.

Speaker 1: 3:44

Another way is and I've mentioned this before on this podcast we don't take time to celebrate, celebrate small wins. Don't wait for these grand achievements. Don't wait for the groundbreaking of the $4 million building for crying out loud. Look for small victories along the way. Maybe it's a kind word that was spoken to you or a prayer that was answered, or just life change, a life that was changed or touched through the ministry of you personally or the ministry of your church. Celebrate those small wins. We so often don't celebrate, we just move on to the next thing. So take some time today. I bet, if you look at it today through the lens of hey, I'm going to find something that God's doing here. You're going to find something and something to celebrate.

Speaker 1: 4:36

Another thing that you can do, I think, is to connect with I call it connecting with your why. Remember, take some time. Maybe you need to do this right now. Just pause this podcast, but take some time and remember why you got into this thing in the first place, why you entered ministry in the first place, why you felt called, how you were called, what was the passion and the calling and the vision that really ignited your heart, and reconnect to that why? Because when you reconnect with that why, many times it will refuel your purpose and it will get you back excited.

Speaker 1: 5:17

And the last thing I'll share with you is your reality is not based in the past couple of days or the past week, or even the past month or quarter. Ministry is a marathon, it's not a sprint. So embrace the long view. Don't expect overnight results, ministry. If you got into this for instant gratification, you probably learned that ministry is a long race, it's a marathon and it is not a place for instant gratification. So trust that God is working through you, because, believe me, I really believe he is, even when you can't see the immediate fruits of your labor.

Speaker 1: 5:56

Okay, here's my encouragement. Here's my bottom line for you today. If you're feeling you're not making a difference, you're not alone. It's a common struggle in ministry, but it doesn't have to define who you are or your experience. If you can shift your focus and celebrate some small wins and seek some encouragement and embrace the long view and go back and rediscover your calling, you'll also rediscover some of the joy and the fulfillment of serving God and making a lasting, long-term impact in the world. Here's my admonition to you, my encouragement to you. You are making a difference, even if it seems like you're not. God has you right where he wants you right now. Your words, your actions, your presence, they matter. So don't give up. Keep serving, keep loving, keep trusting God that he is going to use you in ways that you may never fully understand or comprehend, at least on this earth, but one day, one day, you'll know.

Speaker 1: 6:54

If you're feeling discouraged, need encouragement, need some help in your ministry or your staffing, I am here to help. Don't ever hesitate to reach out to me. I'd love to hear you and your story connect with you. You can do that anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. I would love to hear from you. That's it for today's edition of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Hope this has been helpful to you. We will be back here again tomorrow. Hope you'll join us. If you haven't already subscribed, hit subscribe and you'll get notified tomorrow morning when we post our next edition of the Buckeye Church Staff Podcast. Thanks for listening.