So, here’s the other side of the story:

1. We have to face our own limitations.
2. We can’t make other people do what we want.
3. Everyone doesn’t always agree with us.
4. We have to manage our own boundaries, because no one else will.
5. There’s always somethin’.
6. People often expect us to take responsibility for them.
7. We can’t control the outcome.
8. We could work all the time and never get it all done.
9. Everything takes five years.
10. We are not God.

I have a coffee cup that was given to me by someone who attended my church. It has the word “MINISTER” over a stained glass window and a desk, with the words at the bottom “It’s a Heavenly Job.” I’ve used this cup often over the years, although it hasn’t seemed like a heavenly job every day!

With all the challenges of ministry, here are 10 ways ministry can be a heavenly job:

1. We actually get to talk about God in our work.
2. We deal with people at critical moments in their lives where the opportunity for growth is most immediate
3. We can control our own schedule, mostly.
4. We get to pray, alone and with others, as part of our work.
5. We have a built-in audience.
6. We work with people over a long period of time, if we stay long enough.
7. We get to go to parties as part of our work.
8. We’re paid to help people grow spiritually.
9. We become better at our job as we grow personally (even if that growth doesn’t always feel heavenly).
10. We have the privilege of leading others.

How do we learn who we are as a leader? Not from a teacher, not from a book, but by leading. As we lead, we discover both our strengths and our weaknesses. Writing about spiritual practice, Ezra Bayda suggests, “Practice is about experiencing the truth of who we really are.” (At Home in the Muddy Water p. 37) We might substitute for “practice” the word “leadership.” “Leadership is about experiencing the truth of who we really are.” Nothing will bring us face to face with the reality of ourselves more quickly than leadership.

Being in a leadership role, in church or elsewhere, can be a spiritual practice itself, if we choose to use it that way. We can learn about ourselves in the middle of the inevitable ups and downs. I can remember walking down the halls of the first church I served as pastor, as a 26-year-old, thinking, “I have no idea what I’m doing!” Yet in that moment of inadequacy, I found a way to begin to learn to lead.

If we are always trying to be different (even if we want to be “better”), how do we know who we really are? I’ve put a lot of energy into improving my leadership and overcoming my limitations. All that effort probably was worth it. But at the same time I find myself wondering whether we can’t be as willful toward ourselves as we are toward our followers. “I should be more organized.” “I should be less emotional.” “I should be a clearer communicator.” “I should read more.” Or even, “I should take more time off.”

Could we take a sabbatical from self-improvement? Could we take some time simply to experience ourselves as a leader? Stop and notice what goes on in us when that individual does that thing they always do? We might do some research on our own leadership, just observing rather than trying to change ourselves, at least for a while.

Esther De Waal notes Thomas Merton’s suggestion “that while there was a need for effort deepening and transformation it was most important not to undertake any special project of self-transformation or some attempt to ‘work on myself,’ but rather, ‘just go for walks, live in peace, let change come quietly and invisibly on the inside.’” (Lost in Wonder, p. 85)

We may think, “I don’t have time to go on walks: I have work to do.” We can always come up with more to do. But if we take the time to notice ourselves and how we lead, we may find ourselves getting “better” without even trying.

Many church leaders find it difficult to take a stand. We are afraid of offending or causing conflict. But sometimes avoiding conflict causes more long-term problems than it solves. When leaders are brave enough to stand up for what they believe, followers, and organizations as a whole, do better.

Eleanor Roosevelt understood this. I’m still reading about her later life, a little at a time. Eleanor Roosevelt was a delegate to the first meeting of the first session of the United Nations General Assembly in London in January 1946, within 8 months of her husband’s death. She wrote in her diary about Secretary of State James Byrnes, another U.S. delegation member: “Secretary Byrnes seems to me to be afraid to decide on what he thinks is right and stand on it…we could lead but we don’t. We shift to conciliate and trail either Great Britain or Russia and at times I am sure a feeling that we had convictions and would fight for them would be reassuring to them (Joseph Lash, Eleanor: The Years Alone, p. 50).

Taking a stand doesn’t mean a rigid insistence that others agree. It’s saying, as Martin Luther did, “Here I stand.” We can invite others to stand with us, in a way that is not arrogant or willful, but open to possibility. As ER notes, it is reassuring when the leader has convictions and will take some risks for those convictions. Sometimes people initially get anxious when a leader takes a stand, but over time, anxiety will be lower with a calm, clear presence at the top.

“Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, `It can’t be done.’” Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn By Living (1960)

Eleanor Roosevelt inspires me. I just started reading Joseph Lash’s book, Eleanor: The Years Alone. Lash suggests that when Franklin Roosevelt died, Eleanor Roosevelt’s first assumption was that her public life was over. Her expectation was far from true: she continued to influence the United States and the world for over 15 years. The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project is a great source for information about her life, her writings, and quotable quotes, including the one above. When I was feeling crabby about turning 50 a few months ago I came across the timeline on this website, and realized she turned 50 in 1934. She had a wide influence for almost 30 more years. I was encouraged, and continue to be inspired by her courage and determination.

Our strengths and ministry approaches often also have their roots in the past. I wrote last time about our challenges having roots in the past, but the rest of the story is just as important. One example of this is Augustana Lutheran Church, in Portland, Oregon. Augustana is a vital urban congregation . This church has a strong focus on multicultural ministry and social justice. The church recently opened a time capsule that the congregation closed up in 1907. It included the statement, “The women have a right to vote in the congregation.” Also included was the September 14, 1907 issue of The Oregonian, the Portland daily newspaper, with an article about the challenges faced by Hindu immigrants from India.

Pastor Mark Knutson says, “Finding the two pieces was good for our congregation as we try to step out in new ways of justice. To hear them say 100 years ago, 14 years before women’s suffrage, this is a congregation where women have the right to vote, was very powerful and offered strength for today. The same with the article about the persecution of Hindu immigrants: to hear Swedish immigrants lifting up an article like this, again a statement from 100 years ago speaks to the need today for true immigration reform.” Augustana’s current ministries are in continuity with the past in ways they didn’t even realize.

What was your church’s focus a hundred years ago, if it’s that old? Or at the founding? What strands do you see in the present that stretch back to the past? How can you use the stories of the past to strengthen your people, and yourself, in the present?

I filled the pulpit yesterday at First Baptist Church of Portland, OR, where I am a member. The text was Genesis 45:1-15, the story of Joseph’s reunion with his brothers (unlike some, Baptists can use whatever text we like!). It had never occurred to me before writing this sermon that there was a multigenerational pattern of conflict and cutoff between brothers in Joseph’s family, going back to Jacob and Esau, and then Isaac and Ishmael. According to Genesis 12, Abraham got lucky: God called him away from his family. But then Abraham had a conflict and cutoff with his nephew Lot. It just goes to show you that multigenerational process is an ancient phenomenon, and the Bible, as always, is pretty savvy about the challenges of human relationships.

What are the implications for church leaders? At least two: 1) Remember that the challenges in your congregation probably have roots in generations past, and it pays to know that history. 2) Remember that your own patterns of behavior probably have their roots in generations past in your own family, and it pays to know your own history. Both of these are long-term research projects. You don’t have to start frantically quizzing everyone you know, but over time a curious stance can bring you a lot of unexpected information, if you are paying attention. How will this help you as a leader? When you know the whole story, you are able to be less reactive, more neutral and more thoughtful about your leadership choices.