If I succeed in ministry so that others notice, it is possible for me to WRONGLY take the credit. If I am not effective on this side of eternity but I am His, what does this mean?
First we must define “effective”
In this sense, I am speaking of building ministry and leading people to Christ.
This next passage is from Hebrews 11. Right after the “Hall of faith” which basically names what many people would consider God’s All Star team. Hebrews basically names off the people and then says “here is the awesome stuff they did” and then, out of nowhere….
36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:33-40).
From this we can draw that not all people who give everything to God have super effective ministries. If these guys led an innovation conference it would have been pretty short. “Love God, Love People, Die His.” The end.
I feel like when everyone goes into ministry they want to lead a church of a 1000+. Everyone wants to be Driscoll. I do. Just being honest. What if that’s not what God wants for me. What if that’s not what God wants for you.
God doesn’t want YOU to be effective. He wants you to be His.
If anyone is effective it is God. God builds ministry. God leads people to Jesus.
Not you or me.
Here comes the hard question. Why am I in ministry? Why are you doing with your life, what you’re doing with your life? To be effective or His?
“Why are we so convinced a bigger audience is simply common sense to have? Maybe success is measured best by nothing less than our obedience.” – Jimmy Needham.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
I want to be like the guys in the Bible.
This is a lie. You know it and I know it. You don’t believe this and at the end of the day neither do I.
Here is what I mean:
Everyone wants to be Paul but no one wants to go to prison, run from snakes, or wreck your ship and end up with Wilson.
Everyone wants to preach a sermon and save 3,000 people. No one wants to get crucified upside down.
Everyone wants to have the steadfastness of Job but not the reason to showcase his steadfastness.
Everyone wants to live like Jesus. No one wants to die like Him.
I feel like I was sold a bill of goods that no smart person would take when fully explained. (1 Corinthians 1:18) “You have this hole in your heart that only God can fill, would you like to have it filled?” OF COURSE! This is half of it.
What would make more sense would be to say “You have this hole in your heart that only God can fill, once God fills this hole in your heart, you will begin to see that He alone is the reason you were created, to glorify and enjoy him forever *and He will ruin you to make sure this happens.”
God will slowly turn your heart into His heart. He will begin to show you people as He sees them and your heart will break. You will begin to recognize more and more the gravity of your sin and how much you suck and the need for a savior. Then you will rejoice in Jesus’ cross because He has given you His righteousness and has taken your sin. And you will be burdened to tell people about this.
NOTE TO SELF
When you ask Him to ruin you so that He might be made much of, He will. That’s why smart people like me stop praying for this. I mean who likes to be uncomfortable right? Last time I asked Him, He wrecked every part of my life that was normal. I was deeply wounded and so were others, but I experienced Jesus' grace in so many new ways and saw others experience Him for the first time. And what happens when this happens? “God, what are you doing?!” I wonder how many times God has looked at me and said “You gave me the go ahead dummy!”
Every once and a while God will place burdens on my heart and I will really mean them and give Him the go ahead to do whatever He wants in me so that He will be made much of. This is why the Bible guys were the Bible guys. They prayed prayers like this and meant it, all of the time. I can either comfortably experience Jesus a little bit, or let Him ruin me so that I can experience Him alot. Now that its documented I will hopefully remember when things start sucking so that I will think “Oh yeah, this is a super great time for me to point to You right now isn’t it?” (What if no one responds to this?) (Next Post)
Sanctification. Engage.
Here is what I mean:
Everyone wants to be Paul but no one wants to go to prison, run from snakes, or wreck your ship and end up with Wilson.
Everyone wants to preach a sermon and save 3,000 people. No one wants to get crucified upside down.
Everyone wants to have the steadfastness of Job but not the reason to showcase his steadfastness.
Everyone wants to live like Jesus. No one wants to die like Him.
I feel like I was sold a bill of goods that no smart person would take when fully explained. (1 Corinthians 1:18) “You have this hole in your heart that only God can fill, would you like to have it filled?” OF COURSE! This is half of it.
What would make more sense would be to say “You have this hole in your heart that only God can fill, once God fills this hole in your heart, you will begin to see that He alone is the reason you were created, to glorify and enjoy him forever *and He will ruin you to make sure this happens.”
God will slowly turn your heart into His heart. He will begin to show you people as He sees them and your heart will break. You will begin to recognize more and more the gravity of your sin and how much you suck and the need for a savior. Then you will rejoice in Jesus’ cross because He has given you His righteousness and has taken your sin. And you will be burdened to tell people about this.
NOTE TO SELF
When you ask Him to ruin you so that He might be made much of, He will. That’s why smart people like me stop praying for this. I mean who likes to be uncomfortable right? Last time I asked Him, He wrecked every part of my life that was normal. I was deeply wounded and so were others, but I experienced Jesus' grace in so many new ways and saw others experience Him for the first time. And what happens when this happens? “God, what are you doing?!” I wonder how many times God has looked at me and said “You gave me the go ahead dummy!”
Every once and a while God will place burdens on my heart and I will really mean them and give Him the go ahead to do whatever He wants in me so that He will be made much of. This is why the Bible guys were the Bible guys. They prayed prayers like this and meant it, all of the time. I can either comfortably experience Jesus a little bit, or let Him ruin me so that I can experience Him alot. Now that its documented I will hopefully remember when things start sucking so that I will think “Oh yeah, this is a super great time for me to point to You right now isn’t it?” (What if no one responds to this?) (Next Post)
Sanctification. Engage.
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