Ministry FOMO: When Other Churches' Success Makes You Question Your Calling

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades addresses the challenges of comparing one's church ministry to others, particularly via social media. Highlighting the dangers of 'FOMO' (Fear of Missing Out), he discusses how this can lead to spiritual and emotional distress for church leaders. Rhoades emphasizes the importance of recognizing and valuing different contexts and personal assignments in ministry, rather than aspiring to mirror larger or seemingly more successful churches. • Social media fuels FOMO in church ministry by showing selective highlights. • Comparison can lead to dissatisfaction and a sense of inadequacy. • Different ministry contexts have unique roles and significance, regardless of size. • Faithfulness in small actions is still valuable and important to God. • Focus on what God is uniquely doing in your church context. • Your specific calling and assignment hold more importance than external validations.

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Transcript

Doomscrolling And The Comparison Spiral

SPEAKER_00 0:08

So you're on your phone scrolling doom scrolling Instagram like you do a couple times a day and you know you shouldn't, but you know what? You see this Instagram post and it shakes you. Another church in your city has just announced their third campus. The pastor you went to seminary with just hit 2,000 people last Sunday on their weekly attendance. Meanwhile, you're celebrating 37 people at midweek prayer meeting. And suddenly you're wondering if you just missed something, if maybe God's blessing is happening everywhere except with you, and except with your church. Do you ever feel like this? Let's talk about it today here on the Healthy Church

Meet Todd And Name The Problem

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Staff Podcast. Hi there. My name is Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at ChemistryStaffing.com, along with Matt Steen and our great team over at Chemistry Staffing. Well, here's something that nobody tells you in seminary. Nobody tells you about ministry.

How Social Media Fuels Ministry FOMO

SPEAKER_00 1:04

And it's four letters. F-O-M-O. FOMO. Fear of missing out. And social media is a huge propagator of FOMO in ministry staff and pastors and church staff all across the country every week. And here's why. Social media shows you everybody else's Sunday morning, but it never shows you their Monday morning. You see their PAC Sanctuary, not their empty bank account. You see their staff retreats, but not their staff conflicts. You're comparing your behind the scenes to their highlight reel, and it's just unfair. It's spiritually dangerous

Why Comparison Turns Spiritually Dangerous

SPEAKER_00 1:50

as well. But here's where it gets worse, right? You question, you start questioning decisions that you made after taking a lot of time in prayer. You begin changing strategies every six months because that didn't work. We gotta try something new. You stop celebrating those small wins because all of a sudden they feel even smaller than small, they feel insignificant. Your staff, your team, your board senses your restlessness and they start doubting it too, and you lose sight of the people right in front of you. Now, wanting to see God move in your church is not wrong. Matter of fact, that should be the anticipation of every single pastor, every single church leader. But care comparing your chapter three to their chapter 15 is gonna kill you, man. It's gonna kill you, it's gonna kill your calling. Your assignment is not their assignment. I did a podcast on this a couple years ago. I still remember the title of it because it got a lot of reaction to it. You're not Andy Stanley. You'll never be Andy Stanley. Stop trying to be Andy Stanley. Moses didn't compare the burning bush to Elijah's chariot of fire for crying out loud. Different doesn't mean defective. God might be doing something slower, but deeper in your context. And your faithfulness in small game in small things, whatever God has given you, that faithfulness is still faithfulness. And the kingdoms needs churches of every size and shape serving different communities. And really, here's what changes everything.

Your Context Sets The Right Scorecard

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Your context matters. The rural church serving 80 farmers matters as much as the urban plant that's reaching thousands. It really does. The recovery ministry in the rough part of town, man, that's a totally different scorecard. The church full of senior adults needs different metrics than the college town plant down the street or in the different community. Stop trying to grow somebody else's garden. Tend the soil that God gave you. That might sound really harsh, but man, we are so hard on ourselves. And I've been there, I've done that. Comparison comparing what God has given you and put you in charge of. That comparison is the thief of calling, and when you're busy watching somebody else's story, a lot of times you stop writing yours.

A Simple Exercise To Stay Faithful

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Here's your challenge. And I think it'd be great if you could just write down three things that God is uniquely doing in your church context that wouldn't happen anywhere else. Put it somewhere where you're gonna see it daily. Uh your assignment matters more than anybody else's applause. And social media, man, that is a killer. God didn't call you to build their church, he called you to build the church that he's got you in right now. So keep going. Keep going. Be faithful to what God has called you to do. That's the word for

Closing Encouragement And How To Reach Out

SPEAKER_00 5:10

today. You're listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I'm Todd Rhodes. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow. If you've got any comments, you can reach out to me anytime. Podcast at chemistry staffing.com. I read each and every email. I'd love to hear from you and hear your story and what God's doing at your church and how this podcast maybe has helped.