05 January 2011
What are you doing for God?
Ever heard that question? Better yet, ever heard that challenge..go and do something for God! If you are anything like me, you have always equated that with devotional living. I always thought that meant that I should expressly read my Bible more, pray, and fast more. If I would give myself to the spiritual disciplines, then I would doing what I could for the Lord. The problem is, folks, I have come to realize that none of that really impresses Him. I don't know why that has always been my reaction, but it has. Now, that being said, does any of the above mentioned help me know God better? Absolutely. Is it it useful and should it be habitual? No doubt. But when it comes to "serving" God, or "doing something" for God, things are in a different field. I recently was channel surfing when I heard a guy say, "The only way that human being can do something FOR God is by doing something for another person." I didnt agree with that at first, but I can see exactly what he was saying. The Bible says in Acts 17:25: "And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything...". We understand by that scripture that there is nothing human kind can give to God directly. He is the giver to human kind, and not the opposite. God needs nothing from us that would make Him any better. However, we can do for Him by living according to His heart and giving to others. I do not God any favors by inserting all spiritual discipline in my life. I simply do myself a great service, because it is through that that I know His heart and am better equipped to serve humanity. We have discussed this in the past few blogs, and I have no intention of beating a dead horse. If not for anyone else, this Christian, me, I have to find myself out the deadly trap of trying to brown nose God by all that I know through any given spiritual diiscipline. I have no idea what ever got me in the mode of trying to impress Him anyway, it must be my own selfishness and faulty interpretation of the information I was provided growing up. Nevertheless, I'm sick of it. Discipline yes, but let the end of such bring to me to the altar of human service, make me a responder to all those in need no matter the cost.
To and From
Matthew 9:16-17
There seems to be an awful lot of ministry concerns these days. I can't remeber the last time I fell asleep at night feeling 100% confident that I properly ministered to everyone in my path. I usually fee like a failure when it comes to ministry. Let's face it, how many "results" am I seeing these days? The job, well, I can do all of that blindfolded, but as far as making eternal differences perhaps that remains to be seen. Good ministry has never equaled powerful ministry, and in 2010 I desire to see the latter.
But where will this come from, and what is likely to change? I have the same students in the group, work with the same staff, and will be at the same church. I will live in the same house with the same family, and more than likely, keep my same friends. So if I want change, which we all seem to be begging so much of these days, I have to focus on the one element I am always in control of....ME. For me, 2010 will refocus from what I minister to, so that I can give great attention to what I am ministering from.
Get real, broken ministers lead broken ministries. And in all of my past focus on building ministry, I forget often to build my self. Who am I kidding; I neglect building myself. My well so often goes dry and ministry, as a result, gets reduced to my ability alone. God help us all! Just how do I ever think ministry that isn't spilling out of my own soul would possibly be useful for anything but lifeless rules and information. C.S. Lewis said, "Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil." And if I were in this to provide information alone that would be one thing, but I can't buy into the idea that's what I am supposed to be.
What if, instead of scrounging together orders of service and trying to figure out what will work next, what if before researching and purchasing the next popular small group curriculum from the hottest name in Christianity, that I just myself allowed God to work so much in me that it cannot help but spill out and exemplify his life-changing presence. Would that not be the better thing? Our churches and ministries will renew when the leaders renew. The state of Israel in the old testament declined greatly based on the spiritual conditions of the priests. So, this priest, this leader, desires to choose the "good thing" and make his way back to a life of Godly submission by spending a great deal of time at the feet of Jesus. I want to fall in love again and let that love be the basis of everything I "do". I end with this final quote from C.S. Lewis. Let it be the sum of my desire:
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”
There seems to be an awful lot of ministry concerns these days. I can't remeber the last time I fell asleep at night feeling 100% confident that I properly ministered to everyone in my path. I usually fee like a failure when it comes to ministry. Let's face it, how many "results" am I seeing these days? The job, well, I can do all of that blindfolded, but as far as making eternal differences perhaps that remains to be seen. Good ministry has never equaled powerful ministry, and in 2010 I desire to see the latter.
But where will this come from, and what is likely to change? I have the same students in the group, work with the same staff, and will be at the same church. I will live in the same house with the same family, and more than likely, keep my same friends. So if I want change, which we all seem to be begging so much of these days, I have to focus on the one element I am always in control of....ME. For me, 2010 will refocus from what I minister to, so that I can give great attention to what I am ministering from.
Get real, broken ministers lead broken ministries. And in all of my past focus on building ministry, I forget often to build my self. Who am I kidding; I neglect building myself. My well so often goes dry and ministry, as a result, gets reduced to my ability alone. God help us all! Just how do I ever think ministry that isn't spilling out of my own soul would possibly be useful for anything but lifeless rules and information. C.S. Lewis said, "Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil." And if I were in this to provide information alone that would be one thing, but I can't buy into the idea that's what I am supposed to be.
What if, instead of scrounging together orders of service and trying to figure out what will work next, what if before researching and purchasing the next popular small group curriculum from the hottest name in Christianity, that I just myself allowed God to work so much in me that it cannot help but spill out and exemplify his life-changing presence. Would that not be the better thing? Our churches and ministries will renew when the leaders renew. The state of Israel in the old testament declined greatly based on the spiritual conditions of the priests. So, this priest, this leader, desires to choose the "good thing" and make his way back to a life of Godly submission by spending a great deal of time at the feet of Jesus. I want to fall in love again and let that love be the basis of everything I "do". I end with this final quote from C.S. Lewis. Let it be the sum of my desire:
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”
Jesus Christ Superstar
Is anyone else sick of the fact that Jesus has become so disgustingly commercial? I recall a statement made some time ago by one of my ministry heroes. He was commenting on the fact that he went to see the Gaithers years ago for free and it was held in a small room and everyone sort of set on the floor. He proceeded to say that he had seen them recently and paid something like $18.00 a ticket to sit in a grand auditorium and hear the same music. He made this statement I will never forget, "Jesus has become big buisness!". You make a trip to the local Christian mega-mart and you see people turning the gospel into capital gain. The lines between capitalism and Christianity are becoming blurred if not dissapearing all together. I sincerely want to puke, like honestly get physically nautious whenever I see certain Christian apparel, twenty nine thousand bibles filled with commentary of our church-world celebrities vs. well-studied theological minds, and when I am overwhelmed with conference posters offering to sell me the key to ministry success. Maybe its a personality thing, but sometimes I feel that it's genuine righteous indignation. And when one speaks up about things, he/she finds a million amens, which tells that people have become resolute to sit, tolerate, and never let love and truth have its changing power that comes as a result of honest evaluation. Lord help us all. I can never say that I am not guilty of the same, or give the impression that I have the idea of perfect church and Christianity, I do, however feel like its time to stand up for certain things that are crucial as we enter what most believe to be the last days, no matter how unpopular they are. I am not a rebel, nor do I wish to cause dissension. I want to begin some critical conversation and find some solutions that will cause us to evaluate ourselves and our methods, so somehow we can find the most genuine faith possible and live it out in a most genuine way, a way that doesn't nausiate people (inside and outside) to the point of turning away.
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