When Service Feels Fruitless: Echoes From a Troubled Heart

Ministry by its very nature should be a sacred devotion—an offering laid on the altar, untouched by the hands of ambition or applause. Yet today, as I sit with years poured into service, I find myself wrestling with a haunting question: What do I have to show for it? Not in accolades, titles, or buildings with my name inscribed—but in the substance of a ministry that reflects Christ and functions with integrity (Colossians 3:23-24).

I’ve served. I’ve poured. Yet the soil I tilled seemed tainted from the start. Intentions that should be pure were entangled with performance. Service, instead of surrender, morphed into positioning. And where selflessness should reign, hierarchy barged in—with its glitz, gatekeepers, and subtle politics dressed in robes of righteousness (Matthew 23:5-7).

You begin to notice the shifts when your ideas are declined in one breath—only to be repackaged, renamed, and rewarded in another. When familiar faces gather applause not for revelation, but for alignment with influence (Galatians 1:10). It hurts. But deeper than the sting of rejection is the ache of watching the gospel itself dressed in cloaks it never wore.

🛑 A Dangerous Drift

I’m not grieving church politics for their own sake. I’m grieving what happens when the commission is compromised (Matthew 28:19-20). When the gospel becomes stratified—measured by visibility, not vitality. If this trend continues, we risk passing down a gospel that no longer saves, no longer convicts, and no longer separates light from darkness (2 Timothy 3:5).

Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). That question echoes through my bones. Because what I see now are enchanted messages wrapped in media gloss—gospels tuned to trends, not truth (2 Timothy 4:3-4). A generation raised in sanctuaries where superstition replaced scripture, and fear was the key to the altar call (1 John 4:18).

Is it any wonder that many would rather golf on Sunday than enter spaces where God’s glory has been traded for entertainment?

🔥 A Coming Revolution

I’m not predicting a revival. I’m warning of a revolution. One not built on reform, but rebellion. A rise of lawlessness that mirrors the spirit of the age, even within pulpits (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). The Martin Luther’s shaking was a cry for truth. The shaking I foresee may cry for liberation from truth.

We’re inching toward a moment when discernment won’t be optional—it will be survival (Hebrews 5:14). And I fear that while prophets decode Revelation, the devil encodes distractions. He’s weaponized timing, relationships, and prosperity—all to mute urgency (Matthew 24:4-5; Revelation 13:14).

So I ask: What are we doing, Body of Christ? And even more critically: What must we do now—so we don’t lose the essence of what was given?

🙌 The Call to Return

The time for neutrality is over. We must return to the altar not to preach, but to listen (Ecclesiastes 5:1). Not to strategize, but to surrender (Romans 12:1-2). To seek not the visibility of ministry, but the integrity of mission. There’s still hope—but it won’t be found in performance. It will be found in purity (Psalm 24:3-4).

So, if you’re reading this and feeling the stir, don’t ignore it. These are the echoes of the end. And you, dear believer, are being summoned—not to prove your worth—but to protect the Word (Jude 1:3).