Will You Finish Well? (Part 1) by Maxie Dunnam

There are some experiences or encounters that are so solidly lodged in our memory they continue to invade our consciousness – to haunt us – to help us or to hinder our Christian walk, to call and challenge us to be more than we are. 

John Birkbeck is a person around whom for me a whole cluster of memories is gathered – memories that invade my immediate awareness now and then. John was a Scot Presbyterian preacher. During a part of my tenure as the World Editor of The Upper Room, he was the editor of the British edition of The Upper Room. He was a marvelous preacher in the classic style of the Scot divines.

I remember long walks in the evenings through the streets of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. I remember extended hours across a table in a café over coffee – talking and talking and listening and listening. We were never together without my probing him about Christian doctrine, his own insight into Biblical truth and preaching, and the wisdom of the Scot divines. It was John who introduced me to the Scots preacher Robert Murray McCheyne. I hope I will never forget what John brought to my attention in one of McCheyne’s books. Listen to it: “The greatest need of my congregation is my own personal holiness.”

The Role of Personal Holiness in Effective Ministry Leadership

I want to lodge that solidly in all our minds. I found it true in all my years of pastoral ministry, “The greatest need of my congregation is my own personal holiness.” 

I remember a time in my life back in the early ‘60s when I was confronted with this shocking fact: I am as holy as I want to be. I was a young Methodist preacher in Mississippi. I was the organizing pastor of a congregation which had known amazing growth. It was also in the midst of the Civil Rights upheaval in the South – and Mississippi, of course, was a constant powder-keg. The church was a kind of Cinderella story – a dramatic demonstration of church growth. It became one of the success stories of Mississippi Methodism.

Overcoming Pastor Burnout and Spiritual Exhaustion

Back during those days there was no church growth literature. There was no testing of persons to see if they would make good candidates for church planting. We did it intuitively, by the “seat of our pants” as we would say down in Perry County, Mississippi. I worked myself to the bone. I was worn out physically and emotionally. I kept asking myself a lot of questions – “What is the difference between this congregation and the Rotary Club? Is there a quality of life here that is not present wherever people meet together? Why is it that most of these people have the same ideas about race relations that people outside the church have?” And on and on the questions went. 

It was a tough time and the fellowship of the church was splintered by my involvement in the Civil Rights movement. I didn’t think there was anything radical about my involvement, but many folks in the church could not understand my commitment and participation. I couldn’t understand their lack of understanding. The Gospel seemed rather clear.

The pressure, stress, and tension wore me out. I was physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted, and ready to throw in the towel – even had thoughts about giving up the ministry. My resources were no longer adequate. Then, one of those God things happened – you know the kind of experience I’m talking about – a signal occasion that sets us on another path or at least sends us in a different direction than we had been going.

I went to a week-long retreat/conference, a Christian Ashram, led by the world-famous missionary/evangelist E. Stanley Jones. I will never forget going to the altar one evening, to have Brother Stanley lay hands on and pray for me. He knew my story – we had shared together during the week. As I knelt, he asked me the probing question: “Do you want to be whole? Do you want to be holy?”

That was a signal sanctifying experience in my life, changing forever the direction of my ministry. Through the years since, I have constantly asked myself: Do I want to be holy? and I have constantly reminded myself that I am as holy as I want to be.

How to Manage Discouragement in Ministry

I want you to keep that tucked away in the back of your mind as I share with you about personal growth. My overall theme is “Staying Alive All Your Ministry Life.” An overarching question is, “Will you finish well?” 

I’m at the age when I can look back and plot the zigzag course of my journey and hopefully share a bit of wisdom for those who are beginning, as well as for those who have been at it for a while and have made the saving discovery that our calling and our performance in ministry require on-course adjustments all along the way. Let me illustrate by addressing just one area of ministry life – the fact that the very nature of our work makes us vulnerable to drastic moods, and one of our disciplined responses to life must be the master of our moods. 

Consider one of the most common moods: discouragement. Anybody know anything about that? Of course you do. I want you to know that it manifests itself in the greatest of leaders. You remember Moses. At one time he would express his willingness to die for his people. Listen to him as he speaks to the Lord in Exodus 32:31-32: “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold, but now, please forgive their sins – but if not, then blot me out of the book You have written.” That’s the same person – willing to die for his people – who at another time wanted to die in order to get away from them. Listen to him in Numbers 11:11-15: 

Again he’s speaking to the Lord: “ Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you’re going to treat me, put me to death right now.” 

It’s true, isn’t it – that we whose ministry involves seeking to lift others, and keep their eyes focused on “higher things,” have our turn trying to conquer the destructive moods in our own life. Moffatt has a wonderful translation of Job 4:3-5, which describes our situation: “You have yourself set many right, and put strength into feeble souls; your words have kept men on their feet, the weak-kneed you have nerved. But now that your turn has come, you droop; it touches you close and you collapse.” We know about that, don’t we? 

Biblical Strategies for Sustainable Ministry

I’m using this only as an illustration to get to a personal confession – but since I’ve raised the whole issue of discouragement, let me offer two hurried suggestions that may help us triumph over the deadly mood of discouragement. First, we need to recognize that the mood of discouragement is often the psychological reaction to extreme mental and physical fatigue. When you’re seeking to deal with discouragement, be sure that you are adequately rested. Second, discouragement often results from an impractical idealism, an illogical attempt at perfectionistic activity. Now, I know about that. You will be hard-pressed to find a more optimistic, idealistic person. How often have I had to cry out, “Oh, hopeless idealist that I am: who will deliver me from the bondage of believing that in this life all ideals can become realities!” 

We need to constantly make a valid distinction between a philosophical idealism and moral responsibility. Just because we know all that can be done, and just because we desperately want to do it, does not necessarily mean that we have to do it. Sometimes doing what we see needs to be done may transcend our human capacity – particularly when other human beings are involved.

The greatest need is your own personal holiness. Be encouraged. It is God who sustains. You are not alone, the Holy Spirit comes alongside in a very personal way to guide us. Seek His rest and consolation. Sanctification and encouragement will follow.