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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
“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… Read more »
“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… Read more »