KAREN HODGE | CONTRIBUTOR

We stand on the precipice of a new ministry year. Let’s gather the team, formulate a stellar plan, whip out a shiny brochure, and rally the women! And while we’re at it, let’s try to make it bigger, faster, or shinier than last year. Been there and tried that strategy. “Shiny Plan” seems like a bulletproof proposal in September, but by October, cracks began to form in our well-formulated plan.

• CRACK… You try to recruit women to execute this shiny plan and find that many of them are just “too busy” to participate.
• CHIP… You put the Women’s Connect Event in the bulletin, announce it from the front, send an email, and then wonder why more women didn’t show up when you are cleaning up.
• CRUMBLE…. After teaching a Bible study you spent hours preparing and then receive stinging criticism in the hallway, you hastily vow you will never teach again!
• SHATTER…. Although you meant to send the shiny plan to the Session ahead of printing the brochures, upon reading it, they suggest that you scale things back to avoid draining the church’s resources.

Self-confidence or Christ-Confidence?

What started shiny is now looking a little shattered. What to do? The tendency may be to reach for ministry duct tape or the Gorilla Glue of our self-determination to try to reinforce or prop up our plans. While Gorilla Glue and duct tape may promise long-term stability, we all know that eventually, things will give way. These autobiographical ministry maladies showcase two fatal flaws. First, where are we placing our confidence? The word “confidence” comes from the Latin roots “with” and “fidelity or full trust.” It’s a strategic question to ask at the beginning of a new ministry year. Where am I placing my full trust? Is it in Christ, my abilities, or my plans? Secondly, the “not good” loneliness of leadership smacks you in the head. You turn around and you are all alone. We are always better together. Not only do we need the benefits and blessings of others’ gifts and graces, but we also need gospel friends who will remind us of the gospel truths that follow.

Clay-like Callings

Don’t miss it or allow denial to push this to the back burner. Failure is a gracious discipleship moment. Here’s the bad news and the very good news. We’re standing on holy ground. God is God, and you are not. You have hit the brick wall of your finiteness and limitations. We realize the Spirit never fuels plans made in the flesh. We can see the cracks, and we want to hide and cover them up, just like our father Adam and mother Eve did. These fissures underscore that perhaps we planned before we prayed. Maybe we see the Spirit’s empowerment as a caboose rather than the engine. We are likely proclaiming ourselves instead of proclaiming Christ (2 Cor. 5:7). We want to make much of “my” ministry rather than being ministers of the New Covenant (2 Cor. 3:6).

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves (2 Cor. 4:7 NASB).

You and I are cracked clay pots—common and ordinary containers. Like a flimsy take-away Styrofoam boxes, we often buckle beneath the load, leaving a big mess. God does some of His very best work with cracked pots. It is the place where we find the priceless treasure. Paul presents the great ministry paradox in this verse: the indescribable value of the gospel’s treasure found in Christ juxtaposed with the ordinary, flawed nature of those who minister the gospel. As believers, he tells us we “have” it. It is the assurance of the continual presence of the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Unforgettable divine glory converges with forgettable, frail, and limited followers. But the good news is that His glory can never be contained. It is shinier than any manufactured plan. It radiates out to a watching world. Why? So that everyone will witness the surpassing greatness of this power, which comes from God and not from us. God chooses to use common replaceable pots. Temporal vessels that are here today and gone tomorrow to showcase His majesty.

Don’t Lose Heart or Hope!

This realization can often lead us to lose heart or hope as we labor in the temporal yearning for the eternal (2 Cor. 4:1;16). We may be tempted to quit and throw in the ministry towel. Now is the time for some more good news. He alone is sufficient, when—not if—our plans crack wide open. Sufficient means “enough.” I am not smart enough, gifted enough, or energetic enough to walk out the good works He has prepared beforehand for me to do (Eph. 2:10). Bad news—I am not enough. Good news—His grace is sufficient! You and I are commissioned to a clay-like calling. And rather than being tempted to boast in “myself” or “my plans,” I can humbly boast in my weakness. Why? So that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Living and leading out of weakness and resting in His power. Sign me up! That is a ministry, plan I can get excited about.

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me  (2 Cor. 12:9).

If you are a weary or worn-out ministry leader who relates to any of my ministry confessions, I invite you to our 2026 Women’s Ministry Leadership Training, Clay-like Calling: God’s Glory in Our Weakness, next March 5-7 in Atlanta, Georgia. There you will encounter other gospel friends who are eager to dive into the life-giving truths found in 2 Corinthians.