Jamin Bradley

“You don’t have a competitive bone in your body, and you’ll labor in the same vineyard as others,” a stranger once told me, having sensed the Holy Spirit wanted them to pass along this word.

This is fairly true of me. I am happy to work alongside other churches, organizations, and city officials wherever we overlap in mission. Anything that is a win for the Kingdom of Heaven is a win for all of us.

But like many pastors, I struggle with church jealousy. I have a strange habit of torturing myself by opening YouTube on Sunday nights to watch live streams from large churches in my city. What does that pastor have that I don’t? I think to myself. What is that church doing that we’re not? If I do what they’re doing, will more people show up?

Comparison is something that all pastors have to face. There will always be a church somewhere doing something better than you or that has more people than you. You need to be faithful to what God is doing in your church—not to what he is doing in someone else’s. Surrender any jealousy that you have to Jesus as quickly as possible. It is not healthy for your soul or your ministry. If you are a true church, then you are a force to be reckoned with in the spiritual realm, regardless of size. Stand firm.

Once, during a chaotic deliverance session, the manifested demon kept reminding me of how small our church was. A strange thing happened in that moment. Rather than feel defeated by its statements, I recognized that the demon was really annoyed by our small church. Why did it care so much about ripping apart our church if it was so small and pointless? Why did it want me to feel like a failed pastor?

As I often say, figure out what a demon wants and do the opposite. If the demon wanted me out of ministry, then I was right where I was supposed to be. If the demon wanted me to feel deflated and hoped to shut down my tiny church, then I needed to continue to invest in it.

Jesus has built his church, and the gates of hell will not stand against it. That word is for you, too, small church pastors. Stand strong.