I want to depart from the SBC Controversy for a minute, and talk about something a little more nuts and bolts, hands and feet. As you may or may not know, I am in some transition that wasn’t necessarily when or how I would have made it, and that has result in a little discomfort. There are two concepts at war within me. The first is my responsibility to provide,to move forward, to take care of things. The other side is trusting God and letting Him have control. How does this work?
I am not going into all the nuts and bolts of my situation, I want to deal with the larger issue, because I think it effects us in our churches, families, homes, jobs, every place. At what point do we need to lead and be responsible and at what point do we need to trust God with our future.
The question I think leads to who we are trusting. I have seen far too many leaders who have plans and vision and direction and purpose. It makes me ask the question, where should we be getting our plans and vision and direction? Does a pastor get them from the Spirit, or are they taught in classes and leadership training and through experience?
If a Pastor is spirit led, does he need all the leadership qualifications and experience? If a pastor has all the leadership training and experience, does he really allow himself to be led by the Holy Spirit? Where does our responsibility end and His work begin?
I think it comes down to the results. Too often we expect results to come from our work and our effort, and we worry about them. We spend time worrying and striving for results. Our job is to do what we are called. We are called to be faithful in what we are doing. We are called to do what God calls us to do.
Sometimes our calling will grow the church. Sometimes it will cause those who are just “playing church” to leave. Are we willing for both of those realities? Are we willing to do the things that keep us from being popular? Are we willing to risk job security?
I am still wrestling with it, trying to be responsible, yet give God the room to work and make sure He gets all the glory. I will strive to be responsible, but leave the results to Him.
Dan,
Very insightful post. I am a Church Consultant and an SBC Pastor in Columbia SC. I have worked with over 500 churches in the past 25 years. Part of your consternation may be a result of what is and what is not ‘church’. Let me explain.
The majority of churches have significant dysfunction. The most common example is that of Deacons that function as a Governing Board. Rather than honoring the text (Heb. 13:7; 13:17) they seek to ‘control’ all aspects of ministry. They often do not meet the qualifications for Deacon let alone Elders.
The second significant dysfunction is the absence of operative or governing Purpose = Make Disciples. I just spoke to an SBC Pastor yesterday. He assured me that their purpose was posted everywhere. I reminded him that posting it in the bulletin and the people owning that purpose as the governing principle in ministry are two entirely different issues.
The SBC invested 2 years nattering over a ‘name change’ but persistently ignores the reality of a corrupt eccesiology and a corrupt soteriology as practiced in many assemblies. We are reaping the fruit of a spurious conservatism without the substance of a solid basis in the accurate, irenic and precise exegesis of the text.
I do not know your personal situation. However, I encourage you as you wrestle with the issues confronting you that you seriously and systematically examine whether or not it is a “Church” that you are attempting to lead or merely a building with an architecture that is recognized by the culture as such. There is a dramatic and eternal difference. Call me if you would like to review these issues. 803 776 5282.
In Grace,
Tom Fillinger
IgniteUS, Inc.
Columbia SC 29209
I’m not sure this is as much of a stark choice as it seems. It is God’s will to work in and through us to accomplish his purpose. Not sure we can divorce our effort from the plan of God. As a school teacher, I required my students to expend effort. That was my “plan.” Especially with Science Fair. The kids were free to choose what they wanted to do for a project and I encouraged them to pursue what was of most interest to them. At the same time, there were things I required as part of the science curriculum. These two things – their free choice and my specific requirements – worked in tandem to achieve the desired result. They were not in opposition to each other but were part of the whole.
God’s will is for you to be responsible within the guidelines of His Word. It isn’t an either/or but a both/and.
I agree. I think we see a choice (either/or) where perhaps there is none. Or rather, the choice is not what we think. We want things to be clearly delineated while knowing that God does not always work that way.
Dan, I think you’ve got some great thoughts here. I think God leads us through the Spirit, as you’ve said, but the Spirit has been known to use the skills we each have. That includes thinking about things, and making sound decisions. It does not mean that each call along the way must have the Spirit’s stamp; if we’ve depended on Him and we’ve wisely pursued knowledge and counsel, then we will have honored Him in the choices we make.
Keep on, man.
I came here to say the same thing. Well-put, Rick.
Dan, I’ll add that we need to define what results God is after. If we go on results and end up with a list that is not necessarily what God is after, then what we consider to be results may not be a good indicator.
We recently did a survey type thing among our membership to help gauge some perceptions about our church, ministry, and leadership. A couple of people complained that the leaders weren’t being “led by the Spirit.” As I read that, two things came to mind:
1) Knowing who wrote that, I questioned how they would know one way or the other since the comments came from people who are rarely there and certainly aren’t around any of the leadership decision making process…
and 2) What exactly does that mean?
Spirit-led, Spirit-filled, etc. seem to get mentioned a lot. Practically speaking, I typically have my Sunday morning sermons planned out and written 4 months in advanced–therefore a lot of planning/”my effort” goes into it. I’ve heard some people say, “You aren’t trusting the leading of the Spirit if you plan them out like that.” Really? I thought the Spirit was omniscient, omnipresent, and transcendent of time. He can work in a sermon prepared 2 years in advanced or one prepared 2 minutes in advanced.
I can’t think of the reference off the top of my head, but one of the Proverbs says something like, “In his heart a man plans his way but God directs his steps.” In Exodus 31 you have Bezalel, son of Uri, who is “filled with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs” etc. The text doesn’t say one way or the other–but is it not possible the Spirit worked with the man’s training and experience in such things to produce the result?
We are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling because God is at work in us. We are to strive for holiness, and yet it is God who sanctifies. Yeah, our minds should be set on faithfulness more than result, but depending on God doesn’t alleviate us from responsibility, effort, etc.
In Ephesians 5:18-21, Paul describes being filled by the Spirit in terms of worshiping together, edifying each other, giving thanks for all things, and submitting to one another. A chapter later he tells us to pray at all times in the Spirit. And I think that’s it… if we are striving for a life of thankful worship and we are spending time in prayer, we are being filled with and led by the Spirit, and as we do that we are trusting him as we lead, take responsibility, make plans, and make decisions…
“I want to depart from the SBC Controversy for a minute, and talk about something a little more nuts and bolts, hands and feet.”
When I read the first sentence of this post, I thought it was about driving for NASCAR. I was wrong. I was so very, very wrong. This post is far beyond the simplicity of driving a car at high speeds around a race track.
This post is about the “struggle” — the struggle that all truly called men of God have to deal with in ministry.
Those who are not called of God to vocational ministry along with those who do not believe there is a specific call to vocational ministry cannot comprehend the essence of the struggle.
My personal opinion is that it takes a certain amount of time to resolve the struggle. I have found this to be true for me: I can work my “hands and feet” to the bone, but the “nuts and bolts” are still there, to be tightened, oiled, and maintained.
I have come to a conclusion about the struggle that has helped me. Maybe it will help you. Maybe not, as we are all different although called by the same Spirit to work to advance the same Kingdom of the One Christ.
My conclusion:
It is all about Him. It is not about me. My job is to be faithful and leave the consequences of my faithfulness in the hands of God. After all, it is about Him. He is sufficient.
“Too often we expect results to come from our work and our effort, and we worry about them. We spend time worrying and striving for results. ”
This puts me in mind of Matthew 6, where Jesus immediately follows up the familiar “No one can serve two masters…..You cannot serve God and money” with “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear” (as a side note, though it’s common to associate “you cannot serve both God and money” with diatribes against the rich, note that Jesus follows it up with something that rich and poor are both vulnerable to). The logic implies that worrying about food, drink, and clothing constitutes serving money, and therefore puts you in a place where you’re not serving God.
There may also be a principle there that what you worry about, you serve. And there are more alternate masters than money. If what you’re doing results in worry and anxiety, something’s wrong, and you may have put yourself in a position where you can’t serve God, because you’re too busy serving something else. Part of this question may come down to: who are you treating as master, your plans, or God? It doesn’t mean you can’t plan, just as avoiding serving money doesn’t mean that you can’t have money. I think it does mean that you can’t get wrapped up in your plans and get upset and worry when things get in the way of your plans. It may very well be your real Master letting you know He’s making a few adjustments to them. You prayerfully plan, yet make a place for God to say “actually, that’s not what I had in mind”.