Dangers of Ministry - E2

When ministry replaces God; activity without intimacy

I’ve become very familiar with the account of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38–42. Over the years, I have often found myself identifying with Martha—and more recently, intentionally trying to emulate Mary.

As a natural busybody, it has taken deliberate effort for me to practice stillness before God in my personal walk with Him.

When I was barely a teenager, I was living in sin and yet I was actively using my gifts to serve in church. In my adult years, after repenting and truly finding God, I was engulfed in the hustle and bustle of day-to-day church work to the point where I barely had time to sit and fellowship with God.

Yes, there were many avenues for corporate worship. Sundays were full-day services. Tuesdays were leaders’ meetings. Wednesdays, prayer meetings. Thursdays, Bible study. Fridays, all-night services. Saturdays were filled with evangelism and choir rehearsals. In spite of these many options, they didn’t cut it. I was busy. I was committed. I was working for God.

We were taught the value of sacrifice, and my husband and I genuinely found joy in the rhythm of church life—being present, worshipping together, praying together. But over time, it became tedious for me. We were on the clock constantly. Living about 30 kilometres away from church—Ghanaian kilometres, with traffic and potholes—only compounded the strain. The late nights—or early dawns, depending on how you look at it—didn’t help either.

Eventually, I found myself in a dull, weary place—entering God’s presence with tiredness on my mind and dread in my heart. This was a far cry from “entering His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” Ministry had become duty. And then, painfully, it became a chore.

In those moments, I began to question God about Mary.

Wasn’t it better to simply show up on Sundays and sit in the congregation?Wasn’t it easier to “not be anxious about all the details”, as Jesus instructed in Luke 10?Couldn’t I stop working for God and just focus on knowing Him?

I longed for a simpler life—one that did not involve working for God in church

Serving in ministry had become the end in itself. Clocking prayer hours. Being punctual to meetings. Organising programmes. Serving across departments. Appearing favourable to leadership and influential figures in the ministry. At some point, I realised that I was only praying when I was scheduled to lead worship.

I had missed it.

I was ‘anxious about everything except what mattered most’ to God—making room for fellowship with Him. Growing in the knowledge of Him. Loving Him first, and then working for Him.

In hindsight, if I had steered my focus to knowing God intimately, the service may have flowed more freely. It would have been less burdensome, more meaningful—more fulfilling.

Looking back now, I recognise this as the first step toward corruption.

My eyes were not turned away from Jesus in an obvious way. I wasn’t engaged in the “visible sins” that we often associate with unbelief. But I was in a place where, when it truly mattered, I lacked the mental quickness to take a decisive step away from what was wrong. (I’ll talk more about this in the next episode.)

That is the danger. It starts small. By the time you realise something is off, you may already be farther away than you ever imagined.

How then, do we prevent the drift?

The answer is NOT doing less for God. From how I navigated that season, one answer is learning to return to God over and over again.

No matter what work is done for God externally, the servant (minister) must always create space to be with God alone. That means away from the responsibility, visibility, or output. Time should be carved out, where you’re just worshipping Him, and communing with Him.

Just like you would do in a corporate job, or as a diligent student – assess yourself; ask the hard questions.

• Am I serving from love, or from fear?

• Am I showing up because I want God, or because I don’t want to disappoint people?

  
  

Jesus withdrew to recoup. As workmen, learning to pause and rest in God’s presence, could be the best form of communion with God.  It allows you to be refuelled by the Holy Spirit to get back to working.

Mary chose the “one thing needed”; Though Martha’s service was not wrong, it had lost its place.

The invitation for us, is to sit at His feet long enough that when we rise to serve, we do it from love.

The drift from Him could be subtle but so is the return to Him.