July 19, 2025
Every pastor, elder, and ministry leader who has been at their post for any reasonable period has felt like giving up.
According to research from the Barna Group in 2022 and 2023, 42% of pastors had seriously considered quitting ministry within the past year. The good news is that most do not. Lifeway research recently reported that only around 1% leave: “Only around one in 100 pastors leave the ministry each year.”
I led a devotional recently with a group of ministry leaders, referencing 1 Corinthians 15:58, which reads in the KJV, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." Afterward, I heard from several of these leaders that they had considered quitting and were glad they did not.
Here are five reasons many pastors, elders, and ministry leaders struggle to persevere in their assignments.
First is fear. We fear that we will not measure up and be successful in our work.
Second is failure. Sometimes a ministry misstep can be more than a setback, and we become convinced that we will never recover.
A third reason is fallacy. We believe what the devil says about us rather than what God says.
A fourth reason is fruit. We may not be seeing fruit from our ministry.
And a fifth reason is fatigue. Vince Lombardi, legendary NFL coach of the Green Bay Packers, said, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”
Instead of giving up before our assignment is finished, how can we stay faithful — especially during a moment of discouragement? Here are five suggestions:
1. Remember your call: The older pastors who modeled faithful ministry for me used to say, “Your ministry is only as good as your calling.” What they were saying was that there will be times when any pastor or ministry leader will feel discouraged and consider giving up. But during those times, the only thing that keeps us faithful is our calling. When you are living in a discouraging moment — remember your call.
2. Talk to someone: Believers are admonished in Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Someone has said that a burden shared is a burden halved. Many struggles lose their power when we tell someone else about them. The devil works by isolating us with our thoughts and feelings. God calls us to be strengthened and encouraged through fellowship with each other.
3. Be careful: Adrian Rogers and many others, faithfully reminded believers, “Never doubt in the dark what God has shown you in the light.” When you feel like giving up, it may be that you are walking through a discouraging period that will pass in a week or two. This is a time to exercise caution, as none of us want to remove ourselves from an assignment that God has called us to complete. I know many pastors who regularly battle the urge to quit and find something else to do — but because of a clear assignment given by God, along with daily sustaining grace, they stay at it and serve faithfully day after day.
4. Ask for help: I recently heard a podcast personality describe the difference between transparency and vulnerability. He said transparency is when we admit our struggles, but vulnerability is when we ask for help. For a church leader who struggles with feelings about giving up, vulnerability looks like asking a trusted friend to pray for you as you are going through a discouraging season. We need not be vulnerable to everyone, but we may need to be so with someone. My advice is that this vulnerability be shared with one’s spouse or a ministry colleague — men with men and women with women.
5. Get back to work: One special grace that God has given me when I have been discouraged in ministry has been to make a pastoral visit to someone who is shut in or to do front door evangelism. Both activities take my mind off my own challenges and help me think of others who have greater needs than I do. Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus came to serve people, and we are at our best when we are following in His steps.
All ministry leaders are in their assignments for a season. There will be a day when we will all lay down our work either in retirement, death, or a new assignment. My prayer for you is that God will give you the grace to stay faithful in your role until your job is finished.
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Todd Gray is executive director-treasurer of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. This commentary first appeared in Kentucky Today.
