I’ve heard it said throughout my life in ministry that “ministry is a marathon, not a sprint.” Early on this word picture was helpful for me, serving its intended purpose to build a long-view perspective of faithfulness in work that can often be slow to produce immediate and satisfying results. I’ve used this phrase countless times myself challenging ministry leaders, pastors, church planters and many others to press on in the work they are doing with a future goal in mind that will prove to have been worth the journey it took to get there. I believed it in so much that we even printed it in a book we published earlier this year! Uh oh. However, while well-meaning and good-intentioned, I’ve now come to find this statement to not only be inaccurate, but potentially destructive. Maybe ministry isn’t a marathon.
Ministry Isn’t a Marathon
On one hand, ministry is a long run in the same direction toward an intended goal, however the imagery of “marathon” implies a grueling, continuous race with no points of stopping, resting and getting renewed along the way (outside of the occasional drink station). It can subtly suggest that exhaustion and depletion are signs of commitment and faithfulness. That only the strong can survive the demanding journey—at all costs. That to finish well you just need to keep running. Don’t. Stop. Running.
Now we’ve all seen videos and images of marathoners barely crawling their ravished bodies across the finish line, or of other runners coming to the aid of one whose legs have gone limp and simply cannot make it to the finish without some assistance. We marvel at those stories and applaud them as noble and heroic displays of strength and grit and determination needed to achieve a goal. They truly are inspiring!
But I just don’t think that’s how ministry is supposed to feel, nor is it how we’re supposed to cross that proverbial and elusive “finish line”—wherever that may be. Ministry isn’t a marathon. Men and women have been know to crash and burn in ministry, and in some cases literally take their own lives trying to run this “marathon” without regular intervals of rest, replenishment and renewal. I’ve seen marriages fall apart, health fail, parents’ relationship with their kids deteriorate, and friendships suffer and die—all in the name of ministry. I simply don’t believe that God expects us to steward and shepherd the resources and people He has entrusted to our care by saying, “Ready, set, GO…now don’t stop running. Whatever you do, don’t. stop. running.”
JESUS RESTED
An especially telling season in the ministry of Jesus can be found in Mark chapter six. His dear friend and ministry advocate, John the Baptist, has just been brutally beheaded by a vicious king. It’s a devastating and senseless tragedy. In the midst of that His disciples are experiencing great victories in ministry—people were being healed, miracles were being performed, lives were being changed. It’s in the midst of this very pregnant ministry season full of the hardest of hards and the highest of highs that Jesus puts out a profound invitation to his disciples. He doesn’t say, “We’re going to press on, boys. Soldier on as if nothing has happened. Keep running. Don’t. Stop. Running.”
