When we started to plant a church in 2012, I had big plans. I’d had over twenty years of ministry experience and a solid set of convictions. I knew what I wanted to accomplish, and I knew the mistakes I wanted to avoid.
I hadn’t planned on being flattened in the first year as a church planter. Instead of planting from a position of strength, we planted in a position of desperate weakness. We planted with tears, not quite sure if we had what it took to make it through another day.
Near the end of that year, I confessed to my wife that I hadn’t expected things to be so hard. Her response was exactly what I needed to hear. “What if our weakness isn’t an obstacle to church planting?” she asked. “What if it’s exactly how God wanted us to start this church?”
In this season of ministry, 2 Corinthians became real to my soul.
“We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself,” Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:8. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…” (4:8-9). “We were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within” (7:5). In 2 Corinthians, we encounter someone who’s experiencing the worst kind of suffering in the middle of ministry.
Suffering isn’t abnormal in life or ministry. We shouldn’t be surprised by it. We should almost be surprised when it doesn’t characterize our ministries.
Suffering isn’t abnormal in life or ministry. We shouldn’t be surprised by it. We should almost be surprised when it doesn’t characterize our ministries. In fact, I’ve seen the same pattern repeated in other pastors, especially church planters. We may not understand why we suffer, but we can be sure that God is using our sufferings for his glory and even for our good.
Suffering made Paul’s ministry better. It allowed him to comfort others with the same comfort he’d received (1:4). It allowed the life of Jesus to show up in his life (4:11). It caused him to look forward to eternity (4:17-18). It kept him pride (12:7-8). It allowed him to experience God’s grace (12:8). In his weaknesses, Paul experienced Jesus’ power and strength (12:9-10).
I still don’t know why we suffered so much that first year or so. I wouldn’t wish what we endured on anyone. But I’m grateful for how God shaped us and our new church in that period. It taught us to pray and rely on him. It increased our reliance on his power. It caused us to approach people in humility rather than with any sense of swagger. Our sufferings crushed us, but they also shaped us and the new church in some beautiful ways.
Never undervalue a ministry of weakness. Nobody wants it. It will require more from you than you have to give. But it will also teach you lessons you couldn’t learn any other way, and Christ’s power will show up in ways you wouldn’t otherwise experience.
Don’t go looking for a ministry of weakness, but if God gives you one, don’t despise it either. He does some of his best work in the middle of our weakness.