Why I’m Done Building Systems and Only Want to Build People

By Jennifer McPherson

I’ve come to a place in my life where I only want what God wants.
I don’t want the system.
I don’t want the politics.
I don’t want the maneuvering, the image-management, or the subtle manipulation that so often creeps into ministry.

I just want to see what He wants.

A Vision That Reframed Everything

About a year ago, the Lord gave me a picture about building.
I saw myself standing in a vast open space in the Spirit.
There were bricks.
There were tools.
And there was land stretching out farther than my eyes could follow.

I asked Him,
“Lord, what are You asking me to build?”

He answered,
“I want you to build My house.”

At the time, I was still carrying deep rejection, unhealed wounds, and areas of brokenness that shaped how I interpreted His voice. So naturally, I assumed He meant a ministry—something public, visible, structured, and easy for others to applaud.

But the more I sat with Him, the more He began to unravel my assumptions and reveal His heart.

His House Is Not an Institution—It Is People

Scripture says plainly that God’s dwelling place is no longer a building.

We are His house.
We are His dwelling place.

His home is not made of brick, stage lights, leadership hierarchies, or ministry logos.
His home is made of sons and daughters filled with His Spirit.

The Lord wasn’t asking me to build a ministry.
He was asking me to build people.

To build hearts.
To build identity.
To build sons and daughters who know who they are and who He is.

And that realization wrecked me.

The Kind of Building That Requires Surrender

There has always been a part of me that loves creating, organizing, planning, and bringing things to life. But what He was asking for wasn’t infrastructure.

It was surrender.

This kind of building requires letting go of control.
It requires allowing Him to do the forming.
It requires loving people enough to not mold them into our image, but into His.

There are countless ways to build people:

• through presence
• through compassion
• through listening
• through affirmation
• through calling them higher
• through seeing what God sees in them

But none of it can be done in our own strength.
It all flows from His heart.

The Place I Stand Today

Some days, it feels like ground is being lost.
Some days, it feels like the things I fought to hold together are slipping away.

But the Lord has taught me a simple truth:

He is the start and the finish.
He is the destination and the journey.
He is it.

There is no hidden agenda in me anymore.
I’m not maneuvering for position.
I’m not strategizing for influence.
I’m not building for visibility.

He told me to build His people.
And that is enough.

I refuse to build through pressure, politics, performance, or pretense.
If it’s not flowing from His heart, I want no part of it.

Reflection

• What does “building God’s house” look like in your life right now?
• Have you ever mistaken a ministry assignment for a heart assignment?
• How might God be inviting you to build people, not projects?

“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood…”
— 1 Peter 2:5