Tenacity: When The Results Aren't There

Introduction

The battle of Thermopylae is one of histories most celebrated and most romanticized battles. While being severely outnumbered, the Greek army of around 7000 men was holding a narrow pass against the invading Persian army that consisted of at least 100,000 men, and perhaps as many as 300,000. On the third day of battle, King Leonidas became aware that they were being outflanked because of a betrayal that led the Persians through a hidden path, so he called for a retreat, yet remained with 300 Spartans to stand in the gap in order to protect the retreat of the rest of the army. Though the Persians lost an estimated 20,000 men during the entire battle, they ultimately won the day, secured the pass, and were able to continue advancing.

But, King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans have gone down in history as being among the most heroic men to have ever lived. This is the stuff of legend. Standing against impossible odds. Fighting to the last man. They knew they would lose, but they persisted anyway.

What gave them that tenacity?

Why would they not rather surrender, as many others did in the face of the overwhelming Persian armies?

We would be hard pressed to come to a single conclusion on that. Historians put forth a handful of motivating factors. However, regardless of the motivating factor, I can’t help but notice that they all stem back to what the Spartans believed about some ideals. Be that belief in freedom, defense of the homeland, the shame of retreat, etc. Their conviction created their constancy. The persuasion produced persistence/perseverance.

My thesis for this seminar is simply that: Tenacity is produced by what we believe about our current calling and future glory. Tenacity is produced by what we believe about our current calling and future glory.

What is Tenacity?

Tenacity is the quality or fact of being very determined or persistent. It is determination, persistence and commitment, based on conviction. One definition said it is a stubborn persistence, no matter what.

A stubborn persistence. no matter what. This is what we need as ministers of the Gospel of Christ.

“When ministry doesn’t go as planned, what do I do?”

Here’s the plan:

Consider that something needs to change

Tenaciously persevere

Before we get too far into things, I also want to say that this seminar is the fruit of some conversations within the IFCA Church Planting Commission, of which I am a part. In one of our meetings we were discussing the reality that ministry does not always go as planned, and when that happens, what do we do? How do we press forward when the results seem to be lacking?

As a result of that discussion I was asked to teach this seminar here today. I agreed, because I have developed a passion for the subject, but after reflecting I began to wonder if I was the right person to be doing this. As I look out at this room I’m pretty sure that most of you have been in ministry longer than I, in some cases much longer. Many of you have endured much more and would likely be more qualified to lead this seminar.

However, in God’s providence, here we are. I hope we can be encouraged together from the Word of God because, though I’ve not been in ministry long compared to others, I need the same tenacity that has been shown by others and comes from God’s Word and His Spirit.

So...

What do we do when the desired results aren’t there?

I’m a church planter. It has been estimated that 80% of church plants fail, and only 1 in 10 sustain at larger than 100 people as a weekly average. Most church planters don’t get the results they desire to see.

Each of us, regardless of where we are in ministry have seen people walk away from the faith.

We’ve seen people we’ve counseled make poor or sinful choices.

Perhaps you’ve seen salvageable and repairable marriages end in divorce because some are unwilling to repent.

I’m sure there are other areas of ministry where you have experienced something other than the the results you want.

So, what do we do?

Consider that something needs to change.

Re-examine your expectations.

pre-marital Counseling: What did you expect?

What do you expect from the ministry? It could be that there are factors that have nothing to do with us as minsters that causing the lack of fruit. How many have gone into ministry with the field of dreams mindset: if you build it, they will come.

It used to be that if you were just a good, faithful bible teacher, people would eventually just show up. That may still be true in some places in the US, but in many places, that is long gone. In many places it is unrealistic to grow the church from positive pulpit ministry alone--as important and critical as that ministry is—we may need to adjust our expectations there.

God may have other plans. We get bummed out when things don’t go as we hoped, possibly forgetting that in the good plan of God, He may be doing things that we are completely unaware of. We might be looking for outward tangible fruit, and God is doing unseen things in the hearts of others.

It may be a uniquely challenging mission field, where the cultural or spiritual landscape is particularly hostile to biblical ministry.

Paul said that ministry would be hard. He said he had to labor and strive, he worked by the sweat of his brow, he was often bi-vocational, and he often had to write letters because the churches he left behind were a mess! Who here would volunteer for the church in Corinth?

I think this issue is particularly tough for us younger guys, fresh out of Bible college or seminary, ready to take on the world by storm. We get in to our first ministry position and we encounter all the things that seminary didn’t teach us, and we’re surprised. Well, what did you expect? We may be need to adjust our expectations.

Re-examine your heart.

Is there known, unrepentant sin in your life?

It may be that God is protecting his people by limiting the success of your ministry because of the sin in your life.

Sexual sin, slothfulness, greed, deception, pride. The list could go on. It may be God’s mercy that you aren’t having ministry success.

Are you neglecting the Spiritual disciplines? Do you pray? I’m a man who is tempted every day with all the tasks that are before me: I don’t have time for prayer today, I have all these other things to do. Now I’m laboring in my own strength and will surely fail. That’s a real temptation for me. What about you?

We can say “hey, I believe in the power of prayer, and that God works through prayer” and then goes weeks without spending time in focus prayer outside of meal times. I know this can happen because I’ve done that.

Re-examine your fit.

It may be that you simply aren’t the right person for that job.

How are you to know that? We need good biblical wisdom to help think that through, which leads me to the next thing to re-examine.

While it may be appropriate to consider if there just isn’t a good fit, we also don’t want to be too hasty and think that just because you’re having difficult that means you’re a bad fit.

When the going get’s the tough, we get out of dodge. No we need more resiliency than that. But it may be that we aren’t equipped for the task and need to make a change. We just don’t want to do that for the wrong reasons.

Re-examine your partnerships.

Do you have guys that you rub shoulders with to keep you encouraged?

Who are your mentors, advisors, counselors? Prov 15:22 Without counsel plans fail. Maybe you’re smart enough to figure everything out on your own, but I’m not. And I don’t I ever will be. We all need to have alliances with other men who walked the road we’re walking and can point things out, be honest with you, put you check, encourage you, and admonish you. Personally, that’s one of the reasons that I believe the IFCA is so important, and being part of the regional meetings and pastors meetings are so important. Yeah, its another thing on the calendar and we’re all busy, but this is where we go to be refreshed and encouraged!

If you don’t have someone in your life that you can bounce ideas off of, then you may need to consider if there is a change that needs to be made there.

Re-examine your methods.

IT’s been said that your current system is perfectly tailors to get the results you are currently seeing. The implication with that i this: If you aren’t getting the results you want, you gotta change the system.

I think there is some truth to that, but we need to be careful because we are dealing with spiritual things, we are dependent on the spirit of God, and sometimes we can do all the right things and still not see the results.

But it very well may be that doing things the way they’ve always been done because we’ve always done them that way is legitimately holding the minsitry back, and it very well may be that changes need to be made in our methods.

The message doesn’t change, right? The mission doesn’t change. But the methods may need to change.

Is there something lacking in your methods? Is there an imbalance?

If you’ll permit me to ride a hobby horse for a moment. This is for pastors: Turn to 2 Tim 4

great passage, right? We love this. Preach the Word! Amen! Is there an imbalence in the preaching? Some guys tend to exhort, but don’t rebuke. Other’s do a lot of rebuking, but little exhortation. At times we can do these things, but fail to have the patience that Paul speaks of.

do the work of an evangelist. What do your personal evangelistic habits look like?

Re-examine your values and mission.

Why do you do the things that you do? Why are you in ministry? What do you value? What is your mission? If you don’t have clarity on those things, you ministry may suffer simply from a lack of focus. Why are you there?

Here’s the thing, we act in accordance to what we believe. So we might say I value discipleship. But if there is no discipleship happening, do you really value discipleship? There may be a disconnect between what your espoused values are and your practiced values. It may be time to re-evaluate and re-examine what’s going on there.

Do your values reflect the values of Scripture?

Because tenacity is produced by what you believe about your current calling and future glory. It may be that you need to consider if your values need to change, or you just may need to tenaciously persevere.

So those are five things that may need to change, but maybe you examine all those things and nothing needs to change. Your conscience is clean, you believe you’re where you need to be and its a good fit, your values are in line, and things just still aren’t going how you wished it would. What now?

I believe we are called to

Tenaciously Persevere.

What produces tenacity and perseverance?

three insufficient motivations

Pride

Sometimes we persevere in a task because our pride pushes on. I can’t quit, I must move forward, because my pride cannot tolerate failure.

Can I say, this is a temptation for me.

Competitiveness, covetousness, recognition, and self-advancement.

If we view any ministry as a stepping stone on to a better position, we’re viewing it wrong. Has God called you to that ministry or not? It may not be a permanent position, but if you’re constantly looking to the next before you get done with what God has placed in front of you today, we miss out. This doesn’t mean we don’t plan ahead, or dream, or aspire to other things, but it does mean that keep that in balance and we don’t allow that to distract us from the task at hand.

Duty.

There are some times when we roll up our selves and do the right thing because it just the right thing to do and it is our duty to do so.

Many soldiers follow orders, even to their death, for nothing more than the commitment to the fact that it is their duty to do so.

The Scriptures do point to the reality that we do have a duty to our God and others, but if there is no other motivation, and merely duty, how long does that motivation last? Eventually that person will begin to question why its their duty, and if we never get the why behind the duty, it will eventually be forsaken.

Duty without love is legalism. We up like the church is Ephesus in Rev 2.

Guilt.

We can press on because it feel guilty if we don’t. Guilt is a powerful short-term motivator. That’s why guilt-trips are a common tactic at evangelistic events, conferences, and sometimes in our own sermons. People feel the weight of what is communicated and they act on that feel they want it to stop!

But over time, those feelings of guilt will fade, and if there are not other motivating factors, or if the feeling of guilt is not continually renewed, then the motivation ends.

So these are insufficient motivations. What should we be motivated by?

Tenacity it produced by that which we believe about our current calling and future glory.

I’m using the word believe intentionally. We don’t act on what we know. We act on what we believe. You sat in those chairs because you believed that would hold you. You didn’t know they would, because you haven’t sat in that exact chair before, but you believed. You might have said “I know that chair will hold me” but then sit on the floor. I’m going to question whether you believe it or not. We act in accordance to what we believe.

So tenacity is produced by that which we believe....about what? First, our current calling.

This ties can into the last point on what we need to re-examine. What are your values. What do you believe about what it is that God has put in front of you to do. You may be a church planter, a pastor, a missionary recruiter, a director, a seminary prof, or who knows what else. Why are you doing it.

We have got to know our whys. If you don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, you aren’t going last. We aren’t going to persevere. We’ll hang on for a while, but eventually we’ll conclude that its not worth it. You’ve got to know your why.

Is what you are doing worth the trouble?? Is it worth it to suffer even the loss of everything you own, everything you have?

Paul did.

Philippians 1:19–25 ESV

19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,

Colossians 1:28–29 ESV

28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Peter did

2 Peter 3:15 ESV

15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,

I’m actually in ministry because of eschatology. God used this passage to help me see that God is being patient, and we are to consider the fact of his delay as an opportunity for salvation.

John Did

John 20:30–31 ESV

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

1 John 5:13 ESV

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

Our current calling, wherever you are in ministry or not, is ultimately one of getting the message of the Gospel out, and discipling the saints.

And we know that right? We’ve heard it a million times. But do you believe it? I mean really. Deep down in your heart. Does it well up inside you and overflow into your life. Do you feel the weight of the reality that there are souls who are on their way to hell if they do not believe, but how can they believe on him of whom they’ve never heard? Do you desire that those under your charge might be presented as holy, blameless and above reproach before Him and labor for their maturity in Christ?

Many of you aren't pastors, but are educators, equipers, directors, etc. Do you believe that the work you are doing will further God’s Kingdom?

Do you believe it. We act in accordance with what we believe, and if we are neglecting our calling as ministry, that’s a symptom that we don’t believe it. If we don’t believe it, we certainly aren’t going to tenaciously persevere.

Tenacity is produced by what we believe about our current calling.

Finally, tenacity is produced by what we believe about our future glory

I want us to consider two old testament prophets right now.

2. Case Study: The Prophets

a. Jeremiah was a man who saw exactly zero fruit in his minstry? What kept him going?

i. The word of the Lord

A. Jeremiah 1:4-10 God’s Word.

B. Jer 20:8-9

ii. The coming Kingdom

Jeremiah’s message was a message of judgment on a nation that had abandoned the Lord. He got tired. He grew weary. But he pressed on, and I think the promise of the future is a big part of that:

Jer 31:4, 10-14

b. Isaiah

i. Isaiah 6:8-13

This was Isaiah’s Mission: preach until judgment comes! Not an encouraging message! Not a fun message!

But he too looked forward to the day when God would restore Israel.

. Isaiah 65:17-20

Isaiah pressed on because he knew that God intends to restore Israel once again. He looked forward to future glory.

In a similar vein, we can look at what God has revealed will soon take place and tenaciously persevere because of what we believe about our future glory.

We’ve been talking about this all week.

1 Thess 4, comfort one another with these words

Titus 2:11-13.

2 Peter 3:14-15.

And of course, In the conclusion to Paul’s masterpiece on the resurrection, where oh death is your victory, where is your sting?

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Let us run the race with endurance, looking to Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.

He who began a good work in you will complete it.

Do we believe that? It’s his promise!!

Tenacity is produced by what we believe about our future glory. Not just what we have in our heads, but what we really believe. We act in accordance to what we believe

So. Ministry is hard. We grow weary. We get tired. We don’t always see the results we want. Sometimes that’s our fault, and we need to have the humility to consider, evaluate, and make changes if that’s the case. Consider if something needs to change.

But many times, God simply calls us to tenacious persevere. Even if we see no fruit, like Jeremiah. Even if it means we go to our grave like the Spartans. Endure hardship, fulfill your ministry. Such tenacity is produced by what we believe about our current calling, and future glory.