The Christian ministry is the worst of all trades, but the best of all professions.

-John Newton

A thousand stories start with the good news/bad news line. One reason for their popularity is that they match life, which seldom comes up all roses.

One of my favorite comic strips has Charlie Brown telling Lucy the universal axiom, "Life has its ups and downs." Lucy screams, "I don't want downs. I want ups, ups, and more ups." Unfortunately, as I discovered in my pastorate and my ministry with Youth for Christ/USA and now as a college president, life in the ministry isn't like that. It's a mixed bag, pleasure mingled with pain.

Most of us have a love/hate relationship with ministry. This tension deserves to be faced honestly. Let's focus first on the privileges of ministry.

Why We Love Ministry

I recently spoke at a PTA meeting, and afterward two different individuals came up to tell me they had met Christ in Youth for Christ meetings thirty years earlier when I was leading a club in their community. ...