Dr. David W. Manner is the Associate Executive Director for the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists. He blogs at http://kncsb.org/blogs/dmanner . You can follow him on Twitter: @dwmanner.
No, don’t quit your ministry position…just quit doing or not doing those things that might be contributing to your discontent or the discontent of those to whom you are accountable to. If you aren’t giving your best stuff to the place where God has you serving now and are saving it for where you are hoping He will call you next…why would He want to?
When or if God chooses to call you to a new place of ministry what legacy will you have instilled in the lives of those you leave behind? If dysfunction has not been resolved where you are…what changes are you willing to make to ensure it will not follow you where you go?
The forced termination epidemic surfaces the reality that the choice is not always yours to make. Christianity Today indicates that nearly one-fourth of all active ministers have been forced out at some point in their ministry. Ironically, it doesn’t really matter if the choice is yours or theirs, the response should be the same…just quit!
Quitting is…
* Starting a new ministry position without leaving your old one.
* Intentionally rededicating and recommitting your energy and focus where you are now.
* Coming in early and staying late.
* Leaning into the finish line instead of coasting.
* Owning your deficiencies and surrounding yourself with those who can help you manage those deficiencies.
* Initiating and implementing long-term ministry goals.
* Spending the same amount of time developing new relationships and healing old ones that you previously spent on ministry job-placement sites.
* Going to conferences, reading books and articles, and learning new concepts to try now…not to save for the future.
* Trusting that God knows where you are and what you are going through.
* Praying and agreeing with Jesus’ prayer, “yet not my will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
There are two possible outcomes of quitting: You will again fall in love with them and they with you and stay for the next season of ministry; or you will leave well when God calls you to that new place of ministry. Either way, His response will be the same, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness” (Matthew 25:21).