QUIT!

Quit! You know you could. And, there are certainly days you would. So, why not? It’s so wearisome, frustrating, aggravating, infuriating, why not just drop out? I mean, who would miss you? They all already compare you to every other preacher they’ve ever had, and a hundred others they’ve heard on YouTube. And, you could, you know, make more money doing something else. So, write out that letter. Quit. Then there’s the pettiness, the gossip, the dividers, the folks who wittingly or unwittingly are causing confusion and bring about an unhealthy undercurrent. And, you have to hear them all, and nod and counsel and be understanding and strive to make peace. You’ve got to be tired of it all. So, quit. I mean, a lot of Saturday nights, you already wonder how you are going to make it through one more Sunday. Why wouldn’t you?

Here’s why: There’s a 10 year old girl whose heart is full and ready to serve and needs someone to encourage her. There’s a 30 year old business man at the apex of life who needs to hear that success is measured by more than the bucks in his bank account. And the 12 year old boy who needs to hear the soundness of the Gospel message. Across the aisle from him there’s a college kid who is only there to keep from disappointing his grandma, he’s struggling with where he will rest his faith and needs to know it will be secure only in Christ. There’s the 20 year old beauty, who has been convinced that all matters is the outside, but who on the inside has more beauty than any camera could grasp, she needs to know how to make that shine. And, here, a 70 year old saint, in love with Jesus for life, now struggling with fear of death, he needs a word to bolster his assurance. Slumped over near the back there’s a 50 year old executive who didn’t get that last promotion, he’s in a midlife slump and needs someone to lift up his hands that are falling down. On the third row from the back there’s that young couple, newborn in their arms, they, like others, feel the sweet nectar of sleep pulling at their wearied eyelids, they just need someone to tell them they will make it through this and that it’s worth it. Somewhere in the middle of it all someone got a bad report from their tests last week, they need to know that Jesus will walk with them through whatever the future holds. If you keep looking you’ll see plenty of others whose story only a minister, and their God, knows.  

Yes, there is little doubt there are days it would be easy to quit, but, really, can you? Really, do you want to? This is the greatest work in the world…don’t quit.