Pastor, what is your ambition? I ask this because we are not immune to dreams of greatness. Perhaps we want to pastor a giant church. Perhaps we want to become a national sensation, invited to speak at all the conventions and significant events. It could be that we see ourselves as the next D. L. Moody, Billy Sunday, or Billy Graham. Many may aspire to denominational leadership. These are all worthwhile callings and needed services for the kingdom. There is nothing wrong with this. However, I would ask you to consider something else.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, Paul said:

“Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one (ESV, emphasis added).”

            Too often, we apply this and teach it to our people, but because we see our work as so crucial for the kingdom, we may feel exempt from this command. We should rethink that. Now, please don’t rip it out of context. Yes, he says to work with your own hands. Too many have wrongly concluded that pastors must all be occupied outside of the church, like the tent maker Paul. They forget that Paul was not always supported through tent making. Paul also commanded that those who preach the gospel should make their living through the gospel (1 Cor 9:14), that those who receive spiritual blessings should share good things with their teachers (Gal 6:6), and that the elder who labors at teaching and preaching the Word is worthy of double honor (1 Tim 5:17). For us, our labor is leading the Church and teaching the Word.

            Paul says to aspire to live quietly and mind our own affairs. Could it be that rather than thinking about the next greatest thing, we are called to accept our place and be happy and contented to work with the church where God has planted us? Perhaps we should be content with loving our community, reaching out to our neighbors, until the Lord calls us home.

            Why have we been conditioned to think that such is unworthy and not enough? My prayer is that more small church pastors may not be content with their church’s size, but will be content with the church God has given them. This means being happy where I am but seeking to do all I can here. This means putting away the too common idea that a particular church is a stepping-stone to something greater—to that big church “which we deserve.”

            One fact of rural ministries is that they too often are treated like starter churches. They are a place for a young pastor, straight out of seminary, to cut their teeth. They are like churches with training wheels. I saw this mentality when I was called to my first church. The elders told me, “We want your experience in your first church to be a good one.” I had just arrived, and they were already expecting me to leave someday. That was all they had ever known—pastors for whom their church was a place to start but not to end a fruitful life of ministry. I refer to this way of treating churches as “resume fodder.” Why shouldn’t these small churches be seen as full-fledged churches worthy of putting our entire being and life into? Why should we not long to find a small community we can love, and reach with the gospel? What is wrong with that?

            Pastors, I think we need to repent of our secular ambitions and seek to live as Paul told us—quietly, minding our affairs, and working at the task God has given us. Let God take care of “the next thing” if there is to be one.