Leaving a Ministry

I have recently been led by the Holy Spirit to leave the church I have attended the last few years. There has been a drastic shift towards God in my life over the last year. I started a young adult ministry during this past year, but feel the Lord leading me out of the church. This means giving up the young adult ministry. My wife and I feel led to another church but have not made a decision yet. I informed the pastor of my decision yesterday. He was pretty angry and asked where I was going. I told him I wasn't sure that we were praying about it. He told me that God didn't do what I was telling him God had asked me to do and that the ministry would die with me as he was too busy to find a replacement. This was an EXTREMELY difficult decision for my wife and I. Does anyone have any experience in this sort of thing. I really need some encouragement, but if someone can prove through the bible that I'm wrong that's fine too.

I am not positive this applies to you, for how can anyone know the mind of God, but 1Kings 13 comes to mind as I hear your story. I will be praying for you brother.

-Jeremiah

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Prov. 3:6

the ministry would die with me as he was too busy to find a replacement.

If the Lord wants the ministry to continue, He will find somebody to continue it. But if He wants it to die, then He will let it die. I am reminded of Art Katz and Ben Israel, when in the early 80's, Art felt like the Lord was directing the entire community to disolve for a period of time. Many initially protested the wisdom of it, but, it seems to have been the greatest thing that could happen for that church. Sometimes we have to go through a Lazarus experience, and be entombed in a rock until the time of the Lord's choosing, to call us out.

I recently went through such a period myself. I had been at the same church for 5 years, until last November, the Lord instructed me to leave. For the next 4 months I wandered from church to church, until the Lord brought me to where I am now. And following His Spirit, He brought me to the place He needed me to be, and I have seen great fruit as a result. It was a somewhat scary place to be for a few months. But the Lord has blessed me in my obeying Him. I don't think I would have been nearly as fruitful had I remained where I was.

I am running into a similar delema in all reality, Your pastor reacted out of anger for I am sure a lot of different reasons and its really sad to say this but his anger probably comes out of fear and pride, Fear that his ministry will be effected by you leaving and that will damage the church, And out of pride because its HIS ministry and you are endangering that, Something that Zac Poonen once said that encouraged me was that God doesn't care about the ministry but the men behind the ministry and if a man needs corrected God will destroy the entire ministry to humble the men behind it. I don't know if you know of Mike Bickle but when people come to him and say they would like to change ministries or churches he would send them off with a smile and the easiest way out in a celebratory fashion not that they are leaving but follow the will of God for their life.

Something to keep in mind, if at all possible leave tying off all loose ends and feelings, the worse thing one can do is leaving with hard feelings toward the pastor and the pastor having hard feelings toward them.

You may advise your pastor he has no right to judge what the Lord is telling you because No man has that right. He is a leader but a Calling from God trumps him everytime. I would leave with a talk to your pastor and getting any unsaid things said.

Also Keep praying all of my advise is actually just watching my dad leave the church I attend, I would be leaving if God advised me to but He is telling me to wait for some reason so I am being obeident to Him.

Remember In ALL things be Obedient to GOD first. If your pastors feelings of anger aren't resolved and you have tried to resolve them then the fault is on him. I will be praying for you and this decision.

God Bless,
Matthew

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. All has been taken to heart. Spent a good portion of the day emailing back and forth. The pastor wanted to meet again but wouldn't say why. After his response to my announcement I really was hesitant and almost refused. Fortunately there were people praying for me and I was able to swallow my pride and talk with him. He now wants me to wait around until he can find a replacement for the ministry. This is an answer to prayer. I knew when I started the ministry it wasn't going to be a long term thing. My prayer from the beginning was that God would put someone in my place when He moved me.

If not for people praying I would have let my tongue ruin that because what I started to email would have severed all ties. It would have been the truth but the truth can be sour as well as sweet.

Romans 1:17 "For in it (the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith." Praise God for His patience and guidance. God reveals His righteousness and the way in increments. Like my sister told me this afternoon, if we knew the whole story of our life like a book it wouldn't require much faith. I feel like I passed a test. Thanks again for the kind words and prayers.

Praise the Lord! He knows what He is doing with most certainity! I will keep praying for you in this transition phase for you.

God Bless,
Matthew

Now, while I hear that you had to swallow your pride to carry on 'talking' by email, please do also consider the possibility that God may want you to carry on being available to the group you might be leaving under the care of someone who doesn't actually have a calling to it

I'm not sure I'm following you here.

Thank you though for the encouragement. The first part of your response was my line of thinking as well. I have never been through anything like this and felt I was at all times in the will of God and being obedient. It helps though to have Godly people who can lift you up.

I have felt no leading that this God pulling me out of ministering. He has placed a call and burden on my heart that I think I'll carry to the grave. Although I do pray that I can bear it if He tells me to withdraw from ministering. On the way home from church Wednesday I turned on the radio to the local Christian station that plays a lot of "preaching" and "teaching" and ask God to confirm His direction...again through whoever was teaching. It was Witness Lee, who I'm not very familiar with, and he was talking about Abraham and Isaac. We know the story. God blessed Abraham because he was willing to sacrifice his son, his only son. Witness Lee said that we have all sacrificed something, some have been asked to sacrifice a church or ministry. He said that if someone has sacrificed a church or ministry that the Lord will replace what they gave up by a thousand. I don't know where he got a thousand as the Bible says as many as the sands of the seashore and the stars of the sky, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to go to a thousand churches. I do know it witnessed in my spirit that God was aware of what I had done and He was going to reward my obedience. My reward is that Jesus receives the reward of His suffering. I would just like to see souls truly born into the Kingdom and see lives changed and God glorified.

Thanks everyone again for the kind words, encouragement and prayers.

Because of Christ, Matt