Why Church Ministry Fails – Reflection of Luke 9:1-6

There is a deliberate action on the part of Jesus when he “calls the twelve.” Jesus chose children of the earth to be active participants in his mission. Did Christ need us to go out on mission? Certainly not! But yet he does so. He who was capable of walking on water and raising the dead could certainly be a one-man show when it came to evangelization. Yet by his very action of calling the twelve, he taught us about collaborative ministry.

Ministry is not about what I can do but about what God can do through me and even more effectively with the collaboration of others. Yet so much of ministry has become about individual persons or individual institutions all trying to win souls for Christ yet in competition with each other.

The reality of petty parish politics is but an example of our human ego that desires to win accolades and praises for oneself, setting aside the collaboration of others. Even worse are those situations when a committee is left standing on the sidelines with no work to do while a busybody does it all. Then there are institutions that are all working for Christ but refusing to work with one another.

Church committees and ministries won’t always be able to see eye to eye but they can attempt to walk hand in hand. We have to accept that we are all different and that makes collaboration even more challenging. The reason why ministry fails is not because the objects of ministry are faulty but because we don’t respect the individuality and uniqueness of others, and worse if we can’t see beyond ourselves. Often and sadly, we are the stumbling blocks to ministry and evangelization.

When Christ chose the twelve for ministry, he did not share some bit of his ministry with them. He did not give them a slice of his powers, on the contrary, scripture tells us that he gave them ‘power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases with the mandate to proclaim the Kingdom of God and heal.’ Christ gave his divine powers to the twelve and by extension to us. These are holy gifts to be treated with great love and not for our personal glorification. When we use ministry for our personal glorification then the ministry that Christ shared with us is thwarted by desires of ego and selfishness; desires fueled by satan himself.

Your ministry will never consist of perfect people, it won’t consist of like-minded people or minions that bend and bow to your every wish. When Christ sent the twelve out, he knew very well that Judas who would betray him, Judas who helped himself to the common fund would possibly be a hindrance to the ministry. Yet the twelve consisted of all sorts and all kinds and we have to learn to win over even a Judas with love while we serve the ministry we have been given.

Key to serving in ministry is the ability to fight satan who deceives us with his wily ways. He makes us see the worst in others while he continues to make us magnify ourselves. If anyone should be magnified in ministry it must always be God. Our Blessed Mother did not decide to get herself a new chair to honour the role that God chose her for. She rather magnified God who chose her and then became a woman of service to her cousin Elizabeth.

If you are in ministry, say this litany of humility each day.

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being honoured, deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I , Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.