What Does It Take to Finish Well?

Part 1 of 2
I’m sure you’ve thought about this, at least fleetingly: your ministry will come to an end one day. When I crossed over into my 50s, for the first time in my life I started really seriously thinking about how my ministry would be completed, about what the last years of my ministry would look like. It’s sobering to realize that many ministry leaders have not finished well.

No matter whether you are just starting out in ministry, you’re in the middle stretch of your career as a ministry leader, or you’re just about to retire, someday your work will be over.

The question is not will you finish; the question is will you finish well?

Not long ago I talked with Bible teacher Dr. Ken Boa, president of Reflections Ministries, about what it takes to finish well.

Being vs. doing

The first thing Ken mentioned was our need to find our identity in who we are, not in what we do. He said, “In the hazards of ministry we get so engaged in our activities that they eclipse intimacy [with God]. And doing becomes so essential to people that they forget about the being dynamic.”

That’s why the New Testament writers usually wrote about who believers are in Christ before they told them how to live. Ephesians, Romans, and Colossians all begin with the focus on who we are in Christ—our being—before moving on to telling us what to do.

Take-away: to finish well we need to base our identity in Christ. 

Keep watching for part two!

About Michael Stickler

Mike is an author, radio host, and a highly sought after motivational speaker. His best-selling book, A Journey to Generosity, is widely acclaimed throughout the Christian community. Mike Stickler is the founder of The Vision Group, LTD. This organization offers ministries and nonprofit foundations a Christian perspective in overcoming the challenges of raising funds.

Over the course of his career, Mike has published over forty books that have made a difference through thousands of churches, nonprofits and foundations as they serve the world.