Marathon Training and Ministry

I was recently bit by the runner’s bug. And so here I am at 33 years old training for a marathon. I am enjoying the training, the newness and adventure of it all and of course the physical benefits. But one thing I am also learning is how much marathon training has to teach us about ministry.

As I have been running I have been amazed at how easy it has been. Granted, my longest run/walk so far has been 2 miles (other than a 4 mile hike/run/walk over the weekend) but even so I have been impressed with the ease with which I have slipped into this new role as runner. I believe a lot of that has to do with the pace with which my wife and I are taking our training. The training regimen we are on is gradual. And each day as we finish our run I want to run more. I have the energy and excitement to run more. But I remind myself of what will happen if I run further and harder and longer than I should at this stage of my training. First I know that I might feel good now, but tomorrow I am going to really be hurting if I don’t stick to the gradual nature of my training. Second I also know that if I am really in pain or weak after my run I might not/probably won’t want to continue training on my next training day. Third,I know that if I push too hard and too fast I might actually cause damage to my body instead of helping my body. And so when the end of my run comes and I want to go on, I remind myself that baby steps work wonders. I remind myself that what seems like slow training now will actually look quite fast in six months when I finish my first half marathon. At the end of my run I remind myself that the compounded effort of training four days a week stretching just a bit farther and bit harder each time will be so much more beneficial than trying to do it all today.

The implications for ministry here are astounding! Not only does this speak to the tendency of some pastors/leaders (myself included) to work too many hours and too many days and suffer burnout, but it also speaks to the need of having each part of ministry assume it rightful time and place. Trying to save the whole city today will never happen. But reaching one person with the gospel, encouraging one person, serving one person today is a very real possibility. And the compounded effect of daily ministry to others over a significant period of time can bring amazing results!

And so when I want to try just a bit harder and stay just a bit longer I think: “Maybe I can’t do as much today as I think I can, and maybe I can do a lot more over a period of time than I ever really thought possible”. After all ministry isn’t a moment,it is a marathon and we only reach the finish line when we enter glory.

What to do with others’ expectations, part 3

Let us examine a little more closely what we should do with other people’s expectations and our judgments of others. I want to in particular examine some of the negative consequences of our judgments on other people.

As a pastor I have often been on the receiving end of living in a ‘fishbowl’ where nearly everything is my life seems to be on display. Quarterbacks are quite aware of living in this place of constant scrutiny. Their critics are called ‘Monday morning quarterbacks’. And the reality is the higher profile your role or responsibility or the larger your ‘audience’ the greater the likelihood of receiving much ‘constructive criticism’.

I have said numerous times before that if a president of the United States (or of some fortune 500 company) spent all his or her time responding to criticisms they would not have time to actually do anything helpful for society or their organization. The truth is that this is exactly the scenario faced by many leaders. People want to know why we do certain things, why we don’t do other things, why we didn’t ask them for advice, why we said things a certain way and not another way and so on and so forth. The frequency and on-going presence of these expectations from other people can actually cripple a person’s leadership (whether a pastor, business person, teacher or some other role).

When people are constantly berated and judged they begin to second guess every decision:

     “What if this isn’t the right or best way?”
     “How will so and so respond to this decision?”
     “I wonder if this is the smartest, wisest use of my time, resources, energy etc?”
     “If I do this this way, what will the response be? What about fall-out?”
     “I wonder if I am even capable of doing this job?”
     “Maybe this organization would be better off with someone else leading?”

As someone has once said “Over-analysis can bring paralysis” and often times this is exactly happens to people who are incessantly critiqued. There is a place of health and growth that people living in a glass house must reach for so as to be aware (as necessary) of criticism and yet not allow such words to cripple their effectiveness and mission. On the other hand what would it be like if we each made it our goal not to state “This is how it should have been done…” and instead ask “How might I pray for,  encourage and help them to find and live out God’s perfect will for their life?”

What to do with others’ expectations, part 2

So we each think we know what others should do. We are each convinced that if people would listen to us we could straighten people out, iron out the wrinkles in church, government, dining  establishments, retail, city services etc. We mostly think our judgments are harmless, but what if they aren’t? What if our “private” judgments about what is wrong with the world and our solutions to fix everyone else’s problems are actually making things worse? What if our judgments are only hardening our own hearts, inflating our own egos and tearing down others intellect, emotional health and God-calling?

I would like to briefly talk the pride and fallacy of appointing ourselves judge and jury of all that is.

First, it would seem that it is the height of hubris to think that we know exactly what we would do if were in someone else’s shoes. The truth of the matter is that no two circumstances are exactly equal. Even if we have been in similar situations and understand the types of emotions, choices and actions that need to be made, we cannot say for sure what we would do if we were in the exact situation that we see another in.

Second, there is no doubt that however we have handled situations in our own lives and no matter how ‘good’ the outcome appeared to be, we can be certain that we did not handle every aspect of our own situation perfectly and there is something that we could learn if we examined our own experiences more closely. We would likely realize our mistakes and see places where we could have done things better or even completely different.

Third, we need to consider the fact that it is not our place to decide when, where, what, how or why other people do things…it is God’s responsibility. Even in the case where we are leading others, at most all we can say is what the end result probably needs to be and what principles should be honored in the process but the rest of it still needs to be determined by the person who ultimately is answerable for their actions.

Fourth, we all know in our own lives the difficulty of knowing if we have done the correct things in the correct ways, with the correct motives and a the correct time. We would be wise to observe others’ decision-making skills in action and ask God for wisdom to discern what we might learn and how we might encourage others in the often overwhelming task of seeking to do all things well.

I will share more on this later. In my next post I will examine more  the consequences and the destructive nature of our judgments.

What to do with other people’s expectations

There is not a day that goes by in your life or mine that we don’t encounter a situation where someone expects something of us. Our kids expect us to feed them and love them, our bosses expect us to show up and accomplish the work, our spouses expect us to be loving and available and so on and so forth. Though many difficulties in life arise from these on-going personal and professional expectations, often the expectations that can be the most devastating and entangling are those that are passed on to us from people around us (friends, acquaintances, co-workers, etc).

I know you know this, because you have done it yourself, but did you realize that people watch people? And as they watch, they make judgments: “I would never do that”, “They should know better”, “If I were in their situation I would…”, “I am too smart to ever let myself get into that situation”. You know what I am talking about. You have said those things about others and guess what? They have said those same things about you!

And then we each come to a place in life where we want to please the people around us. We want them to be happy with us as persons and impressed by our performance and achievements. And so we attempt to discern (guess?) what their unspoken judgments and expectations are about us. And then we try to shape our responses and our lives in order to gain the approval of men.

There often is much to be learned from other people. Proverbs is full of admonition to heed the words of the wise and avoid the folly of self-sufficiency. And yet the reality is that if we were to do all that everyone else thinks we could or should be doing it would not only be foolish but actually deadly to a person’s relational, emotional and spiritual life. We may need to come to a point of growth and maturity where we are aware of what others think/say about us (even Jesus asked “Who do they say that I am”) but then move on to a place where we value the input of certain godly and wise people (Jesus asked his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”) but ultimately put all of our faith and trust in God (“Jesus did not entrust himself to men because he knew what was in a man”).

I am not sure how on a daily basis to

  • learn from constructive criticism,
  • discern and reject other people’s judgments who don’t know God’s call and direction in our lives, and finally
  • live to please the Lord and not men,

but that is something I am working on, studying the Word on and praying about. I pray that God would give me His wisdom regarding expectations and obedient living.

As unto the Lord or unto men?

I have been thinking a lot about why we do what we do.

And if we are honest with ourselves there is an inordinate amount of time, energy, worrying, guessing and second-guessing that takes place in many of our lives about what other people think about us. We pick our clothes, our words, our philosophies, our churches, our foods and so much more based on what we think others will think!

What a dangerous preoccupation it is to think that somehow what I think you think about me should affect so much of my life.

A famous philosopher once said: “Know thyself” and if we take the time to do exactly that, would we notice and admit that even our attitude and at times our thoughts are predicated upon what we think others expect us to say, do or be?

Scripture reminds us that we are to live our lives as unto the Lord and not unto men and Paul spent some time referencing what he would have to do differently if he were seeking to please men (see Galatians 1). Many of us on the other hand can think of a list of things right off the bat that we would have to do differently if we were seeking only to please God.

Some of the immediate results of seeking to please God might be that we would pray more and look at cultural trends a bit less. We might also begin to live based on the Word of God and God’s revelations to us instead of cowering in fear based on how others might respond.

I believe that Jesus was so confident in who He was, what He was called to do, what His Father had spoken to Him and His trust in God to work it all out, that He was really free to live. He was free to speak and laugh and make decisions and plan His ministry and give an answer or respond to a circumstance without having to wonder what the ‘fall-out’ might be or how it might look on His resume’ or what people might say about Him behind His back (because they did say a number of things both behind His back and to His face).

How would you live your life different if your only care was to do the will of God? What things would you start doing and what things would you stop if it didn’t matter what anyone else thought? Are you really living as unto the Lord or unto men?

 

Forceful Advancement of the Kingdom

Scripture tells us that the kingdom of God is advancing forcefully and that forceful men grab a hold of it.

The Word also tells us that the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

These two verses speak to me.

But they speak to me that there is more to the kingdom of God than what I have seen first hand in the institutional church.

They actually speak to me also though that there is more to the kingdom of God than I have even allowed God to do in and through me.

When I read these verses i begin to think that there is more to this walk of faith than I have ever experienced. I read these verses and think about another verse- “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has concieved what God has in store for those who love Him.”

I want to be a part of that which God is doing. I want to get on board with a wave of righteousness, redemption and transformation!!

But I am beginning to realize that what I always thought about how the kingdom of God grows and advances is not remotely close.

It’s not about amazing good planning, excellent marketing, great locations and greeters. It’s about a personal relationship. It’s about trusting. It is about obedience.

I heard a message recently about Christianity in North America. The comment was made that Christians are over-educated and under-obedient: we know more about God’s Word than we currently obey and put into practice in our lives. I hope and pray that this week I will obey to the fullest God’s recent commands and revelations in my life.

I believe forceful advancement comes with simple faith, complete obedience and humbly giving God the glory!

Thoughts on church health and growth

Our church can be whatever we desire it to be. We are the facilitators of change, success and failure. True transformation and change comes because of God’s love, grace and power but it is our faith and obedience or lack thereof that either releases God’s transforming grace or quenches His Spirit.

 

The question is how bad do we want it? And why do we want it? Are we so caught up in the American dream and upward mobility that we assume the same things must be true for our church? Or is it because of jealousy? Or perhaps because we have allowed our feelings of personal worth to be tied to what others believe about us…

 

If however our desire for growth stems from a cry deep within our souls that we must be obedient to God, we must honor the Lord, we simply have to gain, propagate and share the compassion and love of Jesus Christ regardless of the tangible results then perhaps we are ready to begin changing our churches and truly making disciples.

 

I know that deep within me lies a yearning to be a part of something bigger: something really making a difference. Not just a few more faces on Sunday mornings, but something that changes the landscape of the culture around us: something that revolutionizes our communities, our families and our churches. I know that many times my motives become mixed. I know that I allow jealousy, pride and other false motives to begin to creep into my life, but the deepest seated, most powerful and unchanging force in why I do what I do lies in this desire to please God and radically change people’s lives now and forever.

 

My question however is: how? How do I change them? How to I find them? What do I say? What do I do? I grab book after book off the shelf…I ask minister after minister and person after person, and very few if any have been able to offer me the answer to my question. I am beginning to believe that the reason why they cannot answer it is because there are truly so few people making disciples that their stories are hard to find and even harder to pin down the how and what of their methods.

 

And to clarify before I go any further, I would like to say that I know that methods do not save: Jesus Christ saves. I also know that one of the primary reasons I am not effective in ministry, evangelism and disciple-making as I should be is because I do not tend to my own spiritual life as I should. My prayer life is hap-hazard and often filled with selfish requests; my hunger for the Word of God is sporadic, and my attention to other spiritual disciplines is often overshadowed by schedule, pursuit of personal pleasure or worry/doubt/lack of faith.

Having said all this, I would still like to assert that I want to be a fisher of men, not a keeper of the aquarium. I want to be a disciple-maker not a church CEO. And I need help to know how. I wonder if I could begin to take this questioning of mine to a deeper level? What if I shifted my thinking from questioning, pondering, discussing and yes, even doubting to searching, inquiring and discovering? Perhaps my pursuit has been too lackadaisical, and too intellectual. Maybe if I shifted to a quest. A mission. A pursuit even. What if I had a personal quest to see what would happen if I focused all my outward attentions on disciple-making? I still don’t know what I am going to do, but perhaps the paragraphs that follow these will be an account of discovery and praise: seeing what God will do, as I ask, seek and knock: “Lord help me make disciples!”.

Jesus’ example for contemporary ministry

Some realities I have noticed about Jesus’ ministry and its example for contemporary ministry:

  • Don’t procrastinate – there’s not time
  • Jesus didn’t do things alone (except for time alone with God and the occasional time of witnessing)
  • His ‘office’ time was very limited
    • Synagogue
    • Early in the morning while it was still dark
    • After dark when He dismissed the crowd
    • He was a man of prayer
  • He spent time everyday with His Father
  • He was not always able to do what He wanted
    • Because of their lack of faith
    • Because of outright opposition
  • He didn’t forget the objective
    • Glorify/Honor/Love God
    • Make Disciples
  • He noticed small things that were big to other people.
    • “Felt” needs – Physical/Emotional/Relational Etc
  • People, People, People
    • He would make friends with “sinners” and “tax-collectors” and outcasts
    • He answered questions one-on-one
    • He ate with them/went into their homes (very personal/intimate settings)
  • He didn’t mince His words
    • He knew His message
    • (He had heard it from His Father)
    • He rebuked the self-righteous and the hypocrites
    • Instructed the hungry/seeking
    • Warned about judgment
    • Called to repentance
  • He wasn’t afraid because He knew His mission and power was from God
    • He said and did what He did regardless of the consequences to self

God is moving!

I wonder if you have noticed that God is on the move. He is lighting fires, changing lives and His Spirit is sweeping across the world with a force and fury wondrous to behold!

You may be asking yourself…”Where is this movement?”

And unfortunately many churches in North America are befuddled when they hear people speaking about God’s mighty movements. But this is not because it isn’t happening, but mostly because we aren’t getting on board with what God is doing!

In the church of the Nazarene around the world, we are seeing sometimes 500 or 1000 churches starting each year in various zones/districts. This is because of the Spirit of God wooing people to Him and believers being obedient to the calling and direction God is putting on their lives.

In America I believe that it is starting too. And we can choose to get on God’s side, or be left behind.

God is stirring in people’s hearts the desire to speak of His wondrous story to those who will listen. Not waiting for them to come to a church building or get comfortable in a seeker sensitive area. But just going in love and boldness and proclaiming: “The Kingdom of God is near, repent!”.

I pray that I will be a part of that which God is doing and that we can snatch from the very clutches of hell those who need God’s redemption and we can allow God’s Spirit to move within in us to such a degree that no one could deny that God is moving to seek and save the lost!

Remember God’s heart beat is….’none; all; none; all; thump; thump; none; all”:

God’s heartbeat is that none should perish but all would come to repentance and salvation.

How have you seen God working and moving in your midst?

Learning from experience

You can’t learn from experience without experiences.

You can’t see God’s hand at work in everyday life without working and serving and seeking in everyday life.

Sitting at a desk; reading a book; even keeping a pew warm will not bring about a forceful advancement of the kingdom of God.

Doing something will.

And we don’t have to guess at what Jesus would have us do.

He has told us. And shown us.

And will tell us again if we will ask and listen.

And then we must obey.

Sometimes in obeying we are taking leaps of faith. We wonder if we heard correctly. Or if we really heard at all, or if we’re just crazy and talking to ourselves.

And then we wonder if what we are doing really makes a difference or really counts for anything.

But if God told you, He will affirm you. And if/when He affirms you, you can know that the accomplishments are having a far greater and farther reaching impact than you could ever imagine.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, No mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”