Book Review: Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome by Kent and Barbara Hughes

Reviewed by David A. Thommen

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I want to open by simply stating my own personal appreciation for this book and commend it without reservation as a staple for any minister of the gospel as well as anyone who wants to know what “successful” ministry looks like amidst the din of so many unhelpful voices. The book is both the preventative maintenance for the “dark night of the soul” and the balm in the midst of it.

 

It was the “dark night of the soul” for Kent Hughes that birthed this book. “A covert, unarticulated animosity had crept through my soul. It was hidden from all. Years of honestly cultivated Christian civility served me well – for inside I was a very angry man. The focus of my resentment was God himself, the one who had called me to this. I had given everything – all my time, all my education, years of ministry and true Christian devotion (he knew!) – and now I was failing. God was to blame” (p. 14).

 

What was the situation? The church in which Kent Hughes served had decided to plant a daughter church with him as the founding pastor. They did all the right things. All were optimistic. Kent was told by friends “things were about to happen, and it would not be long before the new church would be larger than its mother.” Such talk enlarged the optimism and the expectation was numerical growth. “But to our astonishment and resounding disappointment, we didn’t. In fact, after considerable time and incredible labor, we had fewer regular attenders than during the first six months. Our church was shrinking, and the prospects looked bad – really bad” (p. 19).

 

It was Kent’s thoughts of God blessing the ministry with great numerical growth because he had not bought into wrong methods while at the same time doing all the “right” things coupled with the apparent absence of God’s blessing that led to his despair. For him, success in ministry meant increased numbers and when they didn’t come he sank into the pit of despair. Such is the din that continues to resound in the ears of pastors today. It is because of this continued inculcation that pastors need to hear the message of this book. At the same time, it is the people in the churches who impose numerical “success” upon a pastor who also need to hear the message. In light of this situation of despair, Kent and Barbara decided they would sit down “fiercely determined to evaluate our success from a biblical point of view” (p. 31).

 

Kent so appropriately warns, “…When the persistent motif is numbers – then the siren song becomes deeply sinister. Pragmatism becomes the conductor. The audience inexorably becomes man rather than God. Subtle self-promotion becomes the driving force” (p. 29). This is the warning bell Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome rings. It is not just a warning. It is a helpful readjustment of one’s paradigm and a timely word of encouragement.

 

The book itself is divided into four parts. The first of these four parts sets the scenario, which has already been discussed. The second part offers definitions of “success” in biblical terms. The chapters include Success is: 1) faithfulness; 2) serving; 3) loving; 4) believing; 5) prayer; 6) holiness; 7) attitude; and finally, 8) sweet success. The third part addresses where encouragement comes from. These “encouragements” come from: 1) God; 2) the call to ministry; 3) the ordinary; 4) fellow workers; 5) reward. The fourth part is entitled “helps” and spends two chapters outlining how the pastor’s wife and the congregation can help in liberating the pastor from the success syndrome.

 

It is hard to highlight one or two points in this book that are of supreme value, simply because there are so many. Quite literally the book is packed with helpful applications derived from Scripture and words of encouragement that are refreshing to the soul of a pastor. This is one of those books that you will read again and again and buy over and over to replace the copy that has fallen apart.

 

A unique and commendable quality of this book is the co-authorship of Kent and Barbara Hughes. The opening chapters are deeply personal. Kent describes his inner turmoil while, simultaneously, Barbara speaks of her candid conversations with her husband. It is tremendously helpful and insightful viewing the same struggle over success or failure from two distinct vantage points.

 

One of the most poignant statements made in this book comes from the chapter entitled “Sweet Success.” Barbara reflects back upon the lessons learned regarding success. “We discovered that the miserable yoke of worldly success is so crushing because it is a burden that God’s servants were never meant to bear” (p. 106). What a profound statement to hearken God’s servants back to the Lord’s words. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5, ESV).

 

Furthermore, in summing up lessons learned from this crucial and critical experience, she adds: “as we minister, God our Father sees us and our success in ways we cannot readily see ourselves” (p. 107) and, I would add, in ways we may never see until the Day of the Lord. This is the contrast between the crushing burden of seeking worldly success and the yoke that is easy and the burden that is light in serving the Lord. Worldly success seeks tangible, evidentiary, visible, and immediate results. Success in the eyes of the Lord is something much different and well summarized by the Hughes’ in the book.

 

This book is a refreshingly honest. There is no attempt to hide behind the thin veneer of pastoral piety. I would venture to guess many pastors have had the very same thoughts, or some form of them, resonate through their own minds. Hughes says to pastors “I have been there.” He is not saying he has all the answers, but he and his wife take us along for the journey as they sought to find the true meaning of success in ministry and liberate ministry from the success syndrome.

 

Pastors definitely need this book, but I would add, since the success of the church is often quantified in worldly terms, this not just needed by pastors, but pastor’s wives, elders, deacons, and everyone who is a part of the church. This is a recommended read for all Christians who desire to see the church of Jesus Christ advance through authentic gospel ministry.

Available at Monergism Books

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