Last week I heard a message from a Dallas pastor named
Matt Chandler. He was addressing the
issue of burnout and discouragement that often happens in the life of ministry leaders,
including pastors. Here is a line he
shared that I hope never to forget:
A ministry is a stupid trade-off for a lack of intimacy with Jesus!
Now on the surface that sounds like such a basic truth that
we would all say, duh. But we all know of
many stories of pastors or ministry leaders whose lives are somehow exposed to
be hollow shells of Christ-likeness filled instead with darkness, sin,
woundedness and despair. More than anyone,
they should have known what to do and who to go to, but they didn’t. More than anyone, they should have listened
to the words of their own teaching, but they didn’t. Instead of running to God or getting the help
they needed, they ran and hid only for the darkness, sin, woundedness and despair
to fester and grow. All that was left,
then, was to protect their image, their status and their ministry
position.
I wish those were isolated issues, but they are not. Let’s go a bit deeper. As he spoke I thought of this line:
A pristine church reputation is a poor trade-off for a lack of intimacy with Jesus!
There is nothing unique about pastors and ministry
leaders when it comes to trading intimacy with Jesus for something else. We all do it.
We are all tempted to keep doing it all the time. We spend huge amounts of time, effort and
energy trying to maintain a perfect image and reputation even though our lives
are being slowly (or rapidly) hollowed out spiritually.
For some reason we don’t live by the Good
News we say we believe! Here is
what I mean:
1.
Jesus loves us just as we are, not as we should
be and nothing can separate us from this love.
Even at our worst, Christ willingly died to save us. – John 3:16, Romans
5:8, 8:35-39
2.
God’s forgiveness is completely dependable and
universally available no matter what. Our
Christian brothers and sisters are God’s gift to us to help us experience this
healing. – 1 John 1:9, James 5:16
3.
God adopted us as His sons and daughters. He chose us because He wanted to. He loves us! – Romans 8:15
None of this is dependent on us and what we DO. All of it is dependent on God and what Jesus
has ALREADY DONE! If we don’t
really believe Jesus is making us clean or that His love for us is really
unconditional, then we have only one option – to run and hide. But when we come to really believe – at the
heart level – in who Jesus IS and what He has DONE and will continue to DO for
us, we can run to Him. That is where
true intimacy and union is found . . . and anything and everything else is a
poor trade!
What do you think about all this? Why do we settle for poor trade-offs and miss out on the real thing?
Iknow how I can easily fall into a trap of forgeting to seek him and talk to him. I also know that he promised he would never leave us or forsake us or that is me. He is there for me only a prayer away. Trusting in him at every turn and relying on him to help even in the most mundane tasks is crucial to having peace in my heart toward God. He has proven himself again and again this past few weeks especially. I am so grateful to be adopted by God on purpose and that he "chose" me! That is so refreshing and so phenomenal to me. Thankfully he loves me as I am and that he forgives us when we fail him. What an awesome good God we serve!
ReplyDeleteIn 2 Corinthians 5:14 the Apostle Paul wrote, "The love of Christ controls us." Did he mean, the love of Christ for us, or our love for Christ? The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:19, "We love because he first loved us."
ReplyDeleteSo, the love of Jesus (his love for us and our love for him -- the reciprocal love) controls us.
"Brother Lawrence," the 17th century lowly dishwasher in a French Carmelite monastary is remembered for the little book, "Practicing the Presence of God." He said,"Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?"
So the little dishwasher communed with Jesus and experienced ecstasy as he did even very menial chores in serving the needs of others.
I think unfulfilled people use Jesus in either of two ways: as a physician or as a mistress. They want the physician to relieve their pain and they want the prostitute to give them thrills.
Jesus calls us into his service. Whatever our skills and aptitudes, we are to see ourselves as his very hands ministering his loving service to others.
It is by such giving that we receive. It is by loving him him who first loved us that we experience authentic intimacy with our Lord.
Burnout and discouragement happens in all walks of life. Only when God is included, do things improve.
ReplyDeleteSuch an interesting, and at times confusing ,subject. For the mature christian it all seems so simple to trust. However, is it possible to cause a new christian..or even one with a lower self esteem..to feel discouraged when they are unable to feel this intimacy with God? Just a thought!
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