Ministry envy can reach to a point where it can be dangerous and have negative affects on our ministry.

I think it’s natural to visit a multi-million dollar campus and be like,  “Man, I’d love to do ministry here.”
Or experience a very moving worship service and think, “I’d love to be part of something like this every week.”
Maybe not healthy, but normal.

But if we’re not careful, ministry envy can become nothing but excuses and a derailment to the situation God has called us into.

We start thinking, “why can’t my people be like that?”
“Why can’t my church give money for us to build a new campus?”

Or, “If I had their resources…”
“If my church members were more like that…”
“If I did ministry there…”
“If I lived there…”

And we start wondering and dreaming about how much greener the grass is over yonder. And when we snap back to reality, we see how brown the grass is where we are standing. For some, that starts making us feel resentful and we start looking for the first way out.

We have to constantly remind ourselves, the grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is simply greener where you water it.
If you’re staring at brown grass in your current setting, could it be that, instead of watering the ministry and working to grow it, you’ve been working really hard complaining about your church and comparing your ministry to others to see how far yours is behind?

And we have to face the reality that we have romanticized the other ministry.
Truth is, when we go to a different setting, we’re just exchanging one set of problems for another.
From megachurches like Saddleback to a small congregation United Methodist Church, each church has their own set of problems. One’s not particularly easier to deal with than the other. Headaches and heartaches are going to exist, wherever we go, whatever ministry we are a part of.
There’s always going to be toxic people. There are always going to be haters. There are always going to be problems, struggles, criticisms and so forth. To think that the thriving church down the street is without problems, well that’s just silly.

I honestly believe, in whatever ministry we are part of right now, whether we are struggling or thriving, God has sent us there for a reason.
God has placed us in our situation, because maybe God believed we were the best fit for it.
God never said it was going to be easy, nor did God say we will always get our way.

But, I think that’s the perspective we should start taking.
We should stop comparing ourselves with the mega churches down the street or around the country. That’s them. You’re you.
We should stop thinking about how much greener the grass is on the other side and work really hard at making the grass around us much greener.

In the end, we should fix our eyes and our hearts on Christ and do ministry that way.
Remembering that wherever we go, God is always with us.

And this God… no matter how brown the grass may be, or how many dead bones fill your valley… this God has the power to bring forth life. Even with dem dry bones.