Raised to Stay Quotes

“The wave of temptation may even wash you higher up upon the Rock of ages, so that you cling to it with a firmer grip than you have ever done before, and so again where sin abounds, grace will much more abound.” 7 C. H. Spurgeon”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away

“If you are new to a church staff or to an organization, here are five ways you can start well. 1. Take time to memorize the mission statement, vision, values, and creeds. Know the history of the church. Learn it by taking a pastor or leader to coffee, asking questions, and understanding key events that may have impacted the congregation and surrounding community. 2. Familiarize yourself with all the ministries in the church and those who lead them. Know their function, who they serve, what they offer, and how you might partner with them in the future. 3. In meetings, be a student. Learn the culture, observe team personalities, seek to understand, and speak to confirm and contribute. Be careful with criticism early on. It’s hard to critique a house you haven’t lived in. 4. Seek out a pastor of the same sex who has longevity with Jesus and ministry. Ask for mentorship, accountability, and community. Look for wisdom over popularity. 5. Get to know the congregation. When we love the people as we learn our position, we establish roots that won’t easily be pulled up when ministry gets hard.”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away

“Lead with love, serve with joy, live peacefully, practice patience, show kindness, offer generosity, war with faithfulness, demonstrate gentleness, operate in self-control (Gal. 5:22–23).”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away

“None of us are getting out of this life without being disappointed or disappointing others. We are all broken to a certain extent.”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away

“Getting Off the Island of Lost Boys and Girls The first step to getting off this God-forsaken island is to understand ministry is wherever you are as a disciple of Jesus. When I first chose the public-university route, Christian friends would say, “Wow, I’m really surprised you’re not going into ministry.” But they had no idea of the ministry happening all around me, through me, and growing inside of me. They weren’t there when I carried my drunk classmate to her dorm room at 3:00 a.m. and slept on her floor to make sure she was safe. They weren’t hearing the midnight conversations between my Jewish roommate and me. They didn’t know how much ministry was happening as I lit the menorah with her at Hanukkah or how the presence of God filled our room as we read the Easter story together that same year. They didn’t know about the lunches with my atheist professors who wore me down as they challenged my charismatic upbringing and tried to tell me there was no God. They didn’t see me wrestling with my faith and that with each day God was perfecting it. Ministry is all around us, and if we let him, he’ll show us it isn’t confined to a position in a church building that we fear can be stolen. It’s in the everyday hugs and phone calls we make, in teachers grading papers and doctors charting medical information, in stay-at-home moms and dads packing lunches with little notes where Jesus shows up, and the Kingdom advances because we are right where he wants us. When we learn that ministry is right where we are, we go big, we don’t hold back, and we don’t wait for something better. We stop being afraid it can be stolen. We don’t care if we’re overlooked. It might be holding back your roommate’s hair after a long night of partying or rocking a sleeping baby or mowing your neighbor’s lawn. This isn’t selfie material. Setting sail with the Great Commission (go and make disciples) and the Great Commandment (love God and love people) as our North Star keeps us off the Island of Lost Boys and Girls.”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away

“Perhaps it starts when we see someone else doing what we want to do. Maybe you’re in an entry-level role after being a high-level volunteer with experience and tenure and it’s frustrating to feel devalued or unseen. Paul is teaching us in these scriptures not to do anything for promotion or recognition, but to put our heads down and work the soil under our feet. One wilderness at a time, one shipwreck at a time. The phone may never ring, the part may never be yours, the lights may stay dim, but God sees everything done in the secret place. He loves the secret place. If our expectation is fame, we won’t recognize the beautiful roles we’re given or the stories we’ve been woven into that are far more precious than scripts. To get off this island, to stop getting stuck, serve where you are, don’t wait for a better role or a more attractive bride. Every role in the Kingdom of God is filled with adventure, holy romance, drama, and an ending that will make only one Name known. Jesus. He is the Famous One. When we finally get to this point in ministry where we are giving people less of us and more of him, that’s how we begin figuring a way off this island.”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away

“It’s vital to the Kingdom that you and I understand that it’s not the job of our church or church leadership to make our dreams come true. It’s when we get these mixed up that our entitlement sets in, we demand opportunity, strive to be seen, and compete for a spotlight or position that was never promised, guaranteed, or earned.”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away

“In the early 2000s, social media and streaming services changed the game not only for the world but for the global Church. With just one click, anyone with a computer could now find a church, pastor, worship leader, song, chord chart, sermon, or podcast. During this time, digital intellectual material came at us at lightning speed and the larger, well-known churches began representing and dominating a small fraction of the global Church, setting a standard that many other churches simply could not meet when it came to production. The smaller churches lacked the technology, volunteers, or staff to launch and maintain the programming as well as the finances to keep up with the ever-changing times. The traditionalists, baby boomers, and Gen X, who had done most of their ministry hidden and with little resources, were suddenly seeing everything they had been missing. We were no longer satisfied with our own church homes. A friend and fellow worship leader calls this “worship pornography.” The more content we view online, the less satisfied we are with the Bride entrusted to us. Rather than stay where we are and invest into that body of believers, it has become much easier to go online and look for something sexier, younger, more relevant. We break covenant with the people God had asked us to love and serve by leaving them for something more polished and most likely photoshopped.”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away

“Not all those who wander are lost.” 1 J. R. R. Tolkien”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away

“Jesus. He is the Famous One. When we finally get to this point in ministry where we are giving people less of us and more of him, that’s how we begin figuring a way off this island.”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away

“To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light and the dark. In admitting my “shadow side” I learn who I am and what God’s grace means. In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light for others.”
― Natalie Runion, Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away