Why did you first get involved in ministry?
Ask most pastors and leaders this question, and you will likely hear of their heart for God, their heart for people, or both. Keep probing, though, and what surfaces is the reason behind the reason—the initial, catalyzing "firestorm of frustration" experience that took other noble endeavors off the table and compelled them into professional ministry.
A young boy watched his mom suffer alone after burying her husband far too early; now a senior ministry leader, he feels protective of and passionate toward his church's widow care program. A teenaged woman was shown grace from her youth pastor after making the heart-wrenching decision to abort her baby; now the executive director of an urban ministry, she sees to it that people from all walks of life are given second chances. A father of two twenty-somethings awakened to the realization that his kids' generation was wholly uninterested in the God he loved. Rather than caving to his own disillusionment, he developed a weekly gathering where college students and young professionals are encouraged to spark no-holds-barred spiritual discussions.
The original passions that drive a person toward ministry are powerful. These firestorms of frustration reflect a person's clearest, most unadulterated vision for how the world should be. But the ongoing stress and aggravation of leadership take a toll. Love-of-God may not wane, but the complexities of dealing with people's deep-seated pain, fear, and need often suck the joy out of the work. As a result, pastors and leaders often suppress, dilute, or ignore their holy discontent altogether-who has the time to chase after such lofty dreams? They forsake their unique interests, their individual gift mix, and the gut-level knowledge of God's specific purpose for them, and instead attempt to be everything to everyone—an impossible task.
When leaders operate from a place of obligation instead of from the authentic energy of the God-given pangs of frustration that birthed their vision to begin with, the outcomes they face personally are devastating: their hearts lose hope, their stance becomes reactive, and their fuel reserves dry up as ministry becomes a drain instead of an inspiration. Moreover, visions become fuzzy (if they exist at all), goals get watered-down, teams feel deflated, and ultimately, cynicism overtakes the communities they attempted to serve. This is not the vision God had in mind when he commissioned the local church to be the message-bearer of his Good News.
In Holy Discontent: Fueling the Firestorm that Births Personal Vision (Zondervan 2007), author Bill Hybels says that "what wrecks the heart of someone who loves God is often the very thing God wants to use to fire them up to do something that, under normal circumstances, they would never attempt to do." A leader's effectiveness, then, is directly related to how close they stay to what wrecks them—their holy discontent. And when considering what could transpire if every leader in every church were fully dedicated to living from the energy of his or her unique, "holy discontent" passion, Hybels says the potential impact "simply blows my mind."
The book Holy Discontent presents the helpful framework of "finding and feeding" one's holy discontent. The companion guide for ministry leaders, Living and Leading from Your Holy Discontent, offers practical guidance to show senior ministers and other key leaders the exact steps to take. Leaders must:
- Illuminate their own holy discontent and learn how to communicate it to those they lead
- Invigorate holy discontent in others-those they lead, and those to whom they report
- Instigate change by connecting the dots between their holy discontent and the holy discontent they discover in those with whom they serve
Living and Leading from Your Holy Discontent includes:
- Interactive processing exercises that encourage leaders to ask the tough questions of their ministry strategy, their supporting organizational structure, and the key people with whom they collaborate
- Sidebar stories of ministry leaders who are living and leading from their holy discontent in a variety of contexts
- Insightful prompts to help readers act on what they learn
- Space for personal reflection
Living and Leading from Your Holy Discontent helps pastors and ministry leaders to explore this issue more deeply, and offers practical guidance to help them process the implications of what they discover. The book draws them back into the holy discontent that first compelled them into ministry—seeing lost people ostracized, witnessing needy people marginalized, hearing one too many graceless sermons preached—gives them permission to pursue those unique passions, and equips them with tools for converting their frustration into the fuel they need to make a difference, in their own lives, as well as in the lives of those they lead.
