What’s Your Biggest Fear In Ministry?

What strikes fear into the hearts of pastors? Failure? Disapproval? Unbelief? A botched sermon? Even as they look to “the Great Shepherd of the sheep” (Heb. 13:20) to strengthen their labors in leading their flock, pastors still battle “ministry fears” every week.

In this new roundtable, TGC Council members Danny Akin (president of Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina), Bill Kynes (senior pastor of Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Annandale, Virginia), and Miguel Núñez (senior pastor of International Baptist Church in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) open up about their fears. Kynes talks about what he calls “fears of the flesh” and what it would mean to lose his sense of conviction in the Christian faith. Núñez relates Paul’s experience in 2 Corinthians to his own fears—that his own church would misunderstand him, abandon the gospel, or not grow in unity. Akin shares about his fear of following the unfaithfulness of others he’s known personally.

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Watch this seven-minute video to be encouraged as you lay your fears at the foot of the cross and strive to finish well.

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Bill Kynes (MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; PhD, Cambridge University) is interim director of regional chapters and a Council member for The Gospel Coalition. He served for many years as the senior pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Annandale, Virginia. He has authored 7 Pressing Questions, A Christology of Solidarity, and Wrestling with Job (coauthored with his son, Will). He and his wife, Susan, have four sons.

El Dr. Miguel Núñez es pastor principal de la Iglesia Bautista Internacional (IBI), y presidente de Ministerios Integridad & Sabiduría en Santo Domingo, República Dominicana. Es miembro del consejo pastoral de The Gospel Coalition y vicepresidente de Coalición por el Evangelio. El Ps. Núñez sirve como Director de Estrategia para América Latina en el Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, donde también es profesor de liderazgo pastoral. Es autor de varios libros, entre ellos su más reciente publicación Volveos a mí: Un llamado urgente de parte de Dios, y Renueva tu mente: Una perspectiva bíblica del mundo y de la vida.

Danny Akin (PhD, University of Texas at Arlington; MDiv, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, where he also serves as Professor of Preaching and Theology. Dr. Akin is a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He is the author and editor of a number of books, most recently A Theology for the Church, 2nd Edition: Revised and Expanded. He and his wife, Charlotte, have been married since 1978. They have four sons, four daughters-in-law and 15 grandchildren.