The Rewards of Ministry

When Paul describes ministry to Timothy, he reaches for three images: soldier, athlete, and farmer (2 Timothy 2:3–6). Each one carries the weight of suffering. Soldiers forgo civilian comforts. Athletes submit to the rules. Farmers endure grueling, relentless work.

I've spent years meditating on these images, which Paul himself commends: "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything" (2 Timothy 2:7).

But while each image highlights the cost of ministry, each one also points beyond it: to reward. The soldier wins the approval of his commanding officer. The athlete who competes well receives the crown. The farmer who labors gets the first share of the harvest. As C. K. Barrett put it, "Beyond warfare is victory, beyond the athlete's effort is the prize, and beyond agricultural labor is the crop."

Ministry involves suffering. But ministry also leads to reward. Embrace the suffering with an eye fixed on what faithfulness produces.

I keep returning to that final image, the farmer. “The hardworking farmer ought to be the first to get a share of the crops" (2 Timothy 2:6). Kent Hughes captures the farmer's life well:

The farmer's life involved: 1) early and long hours because he could not afford to lose time; 2) constant toil (plowing, sowing, tending, weeding, reaping, storing); 3) regular disappointments—frosts, pests, and disease; 4) much patience—everything happened at less than slow motion; and 5) boredom.

That sounds painfully familiar to anyone in ministry. Long hours. Slow, invisible progress. And sometimes, despite every effort, the crop fails anyway.

Yet Hughes continues: “The hardworking will be first in line for the reward, and the reward will far outweigh the toil." The farmer's labor feeds others, but first he gets to enjoy the fruits of his work.

Ministry often feels like hard work with little visible reward. Every now and then, we catch a glimpse of what God is doing beneath the surface, but more often than not, it feels like we're sowing into the wind.

And yet, if you keep working, the harvest will come. You'll get to enjoy some of that harvest now, and even more later. You'll hear the testimony before the baptism. You'll see the couple whose marriage has been transformed. You'll watch the young man who quietly reports that years of faithful biblical preaching have changed his entire life. These are your crops. You're meant to enjoy them.

Don't think that ministry will be easy, that results will come fast, or that every effort will clearly succeed. There will be nights when you fall into bed exhausted, wondering whether anything you did that day made a difference. Paul says it does. One day, you'll see the full harvest. You'll receive the first share of what God grew through your faithfulness.

Ministry is hard work that demands real suffering. But it is also deeply rewarding work. Don't quit. A harvest is coming that you cannot yet see, and you'll be among the first to enjoy its fruit.