Have you forgotten who you are, where you now live, and the destination that is yours by grace? Could it be that there are times when you live and minister as if there is no such thing as forever? Since God’s grace guarantees your final destination, it also must guarantee you all the grace you need along the way.

Perhaps our ministry struggles are not primarily about lack of hunger for the gospel, the desire for people to have their own way, the lack of willing leaders, unrealistic demands, or constant financial pressures. Could it be there’s something we bring to each of these struggles that makes them harder to bear?

There is something often overlooked that has the power to alter the way you experience your ministry. If you are going to stay sane, thankful, motivated, and hopeful, you must minister with eternity in view. Only here will we be protected by the right values, balanced by proper expectations, and motivated by sturdy hope. Consider with me the effect on ministry of functional eternity amnesia.

1. Living with unrealistic expectations. Why are our expectations unrealistic? Because we often suffer often from an eternity amnesia that causes us to ask this present world to be what it simply will never be. We want our here-and-now ministry to behave as if it’s our final destination, when actually what we are experiencing right here, right now is preparation for the destination to come.

2. Focusing too much on self. Human beings were created to live big-picture, long-view lives. We were created to live with something bigger motivating us than this moment’s comforts, pleasures, and successes. Eternity confronts you with the fact that you are not in charge, that you do not live at the center of your ministry, that what you have been called to moves by the will and purpose of the one great eternal Pastor. You see, eternity always confronts us with realities that transcend our momentary struggles, dreams, wants, feelings, and needs.

3. Asking too much of people. When we fail to live with forever in view, we will unwittingly and consistently ask the people around us to provide the paradise that our hearts crave. The people around us do not have the ability to give us that constant inner peace and satisfaction that we will only ever experience in eternity. Asking the people in your church to give what they cannot give ends in disappointment, frustration, conflict, and division.

4. Being controlling or fearful. In ministry, why do we tend to swing from fear to control and back again? Because, in our eternity amnesia, we feel as if somehow, some way, life is passing us by. It’s important to remember that our unfulfilled ministry longings do not so much announce to us that this world or our ministries have failed us, but that we were designed for another world. Peace in our present life and ministry is found only when we live with the coming world in view.

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