Christian ministry
Is hard
But so is
Secular ministry

What is
The difference
If any?

Professors
Must study conscientiously
Nurses
Must care compassionately
Soldiers
Must serve courageously

Perhaps the church
Expects pastors
To do all three
But is that Christ
Or culture?

How can we tell
Whether we are truly
Ministering to Christ
Ministering as Christ
Ministering Christ?

Perhaps only
If our internal experience
Matches
Our outward performance
Can we be sure
We are producing
Spiritual fruit
Versus counter-fruit

Perhaps only
After we reach
The limits of our flesh
And realize
We have failed
At that
Which is most important
Despite
(Or even because)
Of our best efforts

Maybe
Only then
Can we learn
What it means
To die to the flesh
And live by the spirit

Only then
(If we let them)
Can people see
Trust
Glorify
Believe in
Christ
Rather than us

Maybe that
Is what it means
To take up our cross

Maybe
The end of our rope
Is only the beginning
Of our true discipleship

Maybe
We should start there

Maybe this
Is what we must do
Every day

Maybe
The whole purpose
Of the institutions
Disciplines
Theologies
Traditions
Legalisms
Hypocrisies
Miracles
Deliverances
That brought us here
At such great cost

Was to bring us
To the place
Where we realize
That they
That we
That I
Can never
Will never
Should never
Must never
Be enough

And that the only way
To save
The life I dreamed of
Is to lose
The life I have

That only
In denying
My own
Self-denying
Self-sacrificial
Self-serving
Self-glorifying
Ministry

Can I take up
His easy yoke
Which I thought
Was a heavy cross
And follow Him