Affirmation

Some days, it seems a wonder that anyone ever survives being a minister. Some days, I want to find my way to a seminary campus and grab unsuspecting students by the collar and scream, “Turn back! Before it's too late!”

Ministry can be a thankless job. As pastor of a church, you are constantly made aware of the needs and wants of a diverse group of people – and these needs and wants inevitably conflict with each other and with yours. Church members tell you that they want one thing, and then when you work to make it happen, they realize that that's not what they want at all. Then they complain to you, or walk out on you, or complain about you to others, because, as pastor, you should have known better.

If you are looking to go into ministry to receive affirmation from others, forget it. You'll get a lot more complaints and criticisms than affirmations. And with it all, your compensation is such that you usually have to wait to the end of the week when payday comes to go grocery shopping, because you've already received three overdrawn notices from the bank.

But then that rare event comes, and you actually do receive an affirmation... At your last and final meeting of the regional camp committee that you've chaired for the past six years, someone brings a cake with your name on it and the words “thank you,” as well as a helium-filled, star-shaped balloon. And, if you're especially blessed, you'll also receive a note from one of the campers of the camps you helped plan, a note that says, “Camp is the foundation of my faith, and I would not be the person I am today without it. Thank you for this great camp!”

You'll bring that star-shaped balloon home with you, and keep it in your office for as long as you can, until the helium has all leaked out and the balloon limps slowly across the floor every time a breeze passes through the open window. But you won't throw it away. Not yet. Not for awhile.

And it will be enough. A tiny, unexpected affirmation that will keep you on the path. It'll remind you that those people who like to complain – they're needy, too; they are in desperate need of God's love, and need you to show it to them. They're lost, lonely, disillusioned. And you'll keep doing your best to keep ministering to them, because it's what you were called to do.