The Future Leaders Program is nearing the end for the Class of 2009. As we finish out our year we will be doing a series of blog posts looking back at our experiences throughout the program. Today we’re talking with Allan McCullough.

MINISTRY IS FRUSTRATING!!!
So, this is my last week as an official “Future Leader” and as I think about that reality, many thoughts come to my mind. Things like how I will miss being able to spend some time worshiping on Wednesday mornings and how I will miss Katelyn, Alero, Mark, Philippe, and Brian as they are moving on to do the things God is leading them towards. However, a lot of people ask me what the Future Leaders Program really did for me. If you could sum up in one sentence how the Future Leaders Program shaped your life, what would it be? Well, my first thought is that I couldn’t possibly sum it all up in one sentence but when I really think about it, the thing that the Future Leaders Program did for me was that it introduced me to full-time ministry. Now, I know what you’re thinking. How is that significant at all?!? The significant fact about it is that I found out that MINISTRY IS FRUSTRATING!

It takes a special call on one’s life for them to truly enjoy and be effective in full-time ministry. For those of us who have been or are in full-time ministry, we all know that we had certain expectations before we made this career choice and every one of those expectations were NOT met. We expected incredible working relationships, days that were filled with “rejoicing”, and (if we’re honest) praise and respect from others because we were in full-time vocational ministry. However, those simply aren’t a reality. What we all discover is that ministry is time-consuming, draining, and frustrating. I think each one of us in the Future Leaders Program discovered this about two months into our positions and it was a hurdle we had to jump over. The way we jumped over this hurdle was by learning that full-time ministry was not about “us”, it was about people. Full-time ministry couldn’t be done effectively with our own energy; we had to tap into God’s energy. Full-time ministry didn’t mean that every day in the office was like a day at summer camp; it meant that all of us are sinners and struggle serving one another on a daily basis. Full-time vocational ministry was not what we expected and spending a year in the Future Leaders Program allowed us to make this discovery.

Now, with ALL of that said, I want to say that THIS IS A GOOD THING. This is the way God designed it. God designed ministry to be a draining, selfless, and A frustrating call on ones life that does not receive an earthly reward. Why did He design it this way?

1. He designed it to be draining so that we would draw on His strength and not ours. Look at 2 Corinthians 13:4 which says, “For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.” When Jesus was doing ministry, He experienced the limitations and weaknesses we have for just merely being human, yet he drew on the Father’s strength and here Paul is telling us that God supplies that strength for us as well. God designed it to be draining so we would need to call upon Him for strength.
2. He designed it to be selfless because God doesn’t care really about our glory, he cares about His glory. Look at Colossians 1 which says, “…all things were created by him and for him….And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy…” Really, we should take that as a command. In everything, God gets supremacy and it just so happens that the head of the church is Christ. So, as someone in full-time ministry nothing is really about me because EVERYTHING is about Christ.
3. He designed ministry so that you receive no earthly reward because He has such a better reward for us. Now I am in no way saying that those in full-time vocational ministry receive a better heavenly reward than those who are not. For those people who serve God though, God rewards us with an incredible joy. Peter calls it an “inexpressible and glorious joy…” in 1 Peter 1. We may not get the reward we were expecting from the people around us, but God certainly rewards us with joy that really no words could articulate.

So, now reflecting on my times with the Future Leaders and the many lessons that I have learned, I come up with the conclusion that ministry is frustrating. If I were not specifically called by God to do it, I wouldn’t! But, I get to see God change lives. I get to see people find direction and purpose. I get to see people learn about the gospel, accept it in their heart, and then take there first breath as a new creation in Christ. I get to see God perform miracles. I get to see God fill a person’s heart with a love and acceptance that they’ve never experienced before. I have an inexpressible and glorious joy within me that those who don’t know Christ can’t understand. I’ve experienced this within the Future Leaders Program. So, let me re-title this blog if you’ll allow me….
MINISTRY IS FRUSTRATING BUT I WOULDN’T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING!