The Task of Every Spiritual Leader

You can't get very far in reading Paul's epistles before it becomes extremely evident that he was a man of prayer. But his prayers weren't simply for himself, he was constantly lifting up the churches he had planted, the people that were being discipled there, as well as their ongoing ministry.

This isn't a new concept for spiritual leaders, as Abraham and Moses had done centuries before. However, there's a statement that Samuel makes about prayer that should jar any of us that strives to lead others, whether in our church or home. 1 Samuel 12:23 says, "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you." This puts the responsibility and necessity of prayer in a whole new light.

I think it's especially important to remember the context here as well. Samuel is nearing the end of his days, and he has just rebuked the people for their request of a king. Part of this, of course, included their rejection of his own sons as leaders. I think God's response to Samuel in 8:7 implies that Samuel was deeply hurt by this.

So, in spite of all their sin, rebellion, and rejection, Samuel still had a responsibility to pray for them. It didn't matter what they had done or how he felt about it. It would be sin not to. That truth has not changed. Prayer is still the task of every spiritual leader.

Behind the Scenes of Effective Ministry

Last summer our BSU Bible study was over 2 Corinthians, and I remember reading a commentary that said it was the letter Paul was reluctant to write. That's because Paul has to spend so much time defending himself and his ministry, when he would rather talk to them about the gospel and its implications.

That brings me to my reading this morning, 2 Corinthians 11. There were some people at the church in Corinth that insulted Paul's abilities, questioned his apostleship, doubted his motives, and were jealous of the results of his ministry. They wanted to be seen as somebody even greater than Paul.

So Paul takes a moment to lay out what it really costs to have an effective ministry. In verses 23-33 his experience can almost be summed up in a single word: danger. He faced trials at every single turn. Those who were jealous of the "glamor" of Paul's ministry had no idea what it actually cost. I doubt any of them would strive for those kinds of experiences.

Paul's path was especially wrought with trials (Acts 9:16), but it's still the reality of ministry. It will be challenging and you will not be up to the task apart from the power of Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:30, 12:9-10). However, it's in those trials that we most depend on Him and take no glory or credit for ourselves. For those desiring to have a great ministry, let your expectation match reality - being deeply used by Jesus will not come cheaply.

Focalism

Part of my reading this morning was in 1 Samuel 8. It's a rather startling story for a few different reasons. One thing that really interests me is the matter of Samuel's sons. Why were they so different from him? Surely he prayed for them and instructed them in the ways of the Lord, after all he was one of the greatest spiritual leaders Israel would ever have. Furthermore, there's no way he could forget what happened to Eli's sons... I don't have any answers for that.

Today, though, I really want to focus in on the Israelites' request for a king. Of course their big mistake was wanting to be like the nations around them, rather than being different and introducing God to their neighboring countries. But what struck me this morning was their insistence on having a king, even after Samuel told them what a bad deal it would be for them. Their minds were completely made up and no amount of wisdom or reason could change them.

All of this brings me back to a word that I heard Andy Stanley talk about at Catalyst: Focalism. He was preaching out of the story of Jacob and Esau and the selling of Esau's birthright for a bowl of stew. The point is clearly made in this passage as well. Sometimes we get so locked in on what we think we want at that very moment, everything else becomes a blur. In the process we make terrible decisions, trade away our future, compromise our values, and eventually live to regret it.

How can you tell if you're starting to fall victim to focalism? I think that's part of the problem - we often can't! That's why we need to humbly allow others to be involved in our lives. Is there anyone in your life you can be real with? Someone who asks you the tough questions and will be honest with you, even when it hurts? And even more to the point, will you listen to them?

I know some people who are still looking for this relationship but haven't found it. Whether or not you have someone like that, you can always go to the Lord. There's no replacement for a daily time with Him, allowing His Word to bring teaching, rebuking and correcting in your life. It's far better than falling victim to focalism.

Generosity

In my quiet time this morning, part of my reading was 2 Corinthians 9. Paul is writing to the church at Corinth and is encouraging them to follow through on their prior commitments to give. In the process, he tells us some incredible things about generosity:

• If you only have a little, you can still give generously, even if it's not a lot (8:12)
  
• Giving should be done voluntarily and cheerfully (v7)
  
• God loves a cheerful giver (v7)
  
• God blesses us so we can give generously to others in need, not simply for our own benefit (v11)
  
• Being generous with our money opens the door for God to bless us in non-monetary ways (v8,10,12)
  
• Our generosity will result in God's glory (v11,12,13)
  
• Our giving should be our natural response to our experience of God's grace (v14)

When I read this, it's easy for me to think, "I need to be more generous! I'll get right on that." But that's not really the point. I think instead any lack of generosity on our part should lead us to examine our experience and understanding of God's grace given to us in Jesus Christ. While generosity can be a disciplined action, I think the ideal is that it's a natural byproduct of our relationship with God. He has lavished His grace upon us - given generously above and beyond anything we could deserve. Paul calls it His "indescribable gift!"

Have you experienced His grace and mercy in your own life? One simple evidence of that will be an outpouring of generosity to others.

Two Months = Broken Windows and Graffiti

Hmm... so apparently if you leave your blog alone long enough, spambots will appear and start posting useless comments. I've deleted those comments, but I did manage to catch a photo of the perpetrator:

Everything That Hinders?

As I once again redefine my morning devotional time, I've settled into reading whole books at a time. Last week I knocked out several shorter epistles, and today I read through Hebrews. I really do encourage you to try reading an entire book at a time - sometimes we miss the big picture because we're only taking in a few verses at a time.

Today I just wanted to comment on one verse - Hebrews 12:1. It says: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

I love this verse and the visual it creates. I've reflected on this before, how runners wear no more clothing than is necessary in order to run their very best. Swimmers take it a step further and shave all the hair off their bodies!

It's easy to look at this verse and understand the "sin that so easily entangles" part. Without question, sin trips us up and causes us to be slow in the race and unfruitful in our Christian lives. But there are two dangers listed here: the sin just mentioned, and other things that "hinder" us, but perhaps are not sinful in themselves.

In my own life I see lots of things that could probably be considered morally neutral but do not contribute to my running the race well.* On the contrary, they tend to hinder me - weights that simply slow me down or distract me from what I should otherwise be focused on.

* Some of those are randomly, aimlessly browsing the internet, playing video games by myself, and not having a plan on how to be productive with my "free" time. And I just realized my perfectionism is often a hindrance as well.

Without a doubt our world is overflowing with these: tv programs, video games and really all manner of gadgets and gizmos. But we add to them with procrastination and poor time management, saying yes to too many things, sleeping in or taking naps or adding fruitless hobbies to our lives.

I'm not saying having any of those things in your life is bad - just that they can easily become hindrances in running hard after Christ. Have you taken stock lately of your own life and what it's filled with? Are you not only seeking to rid yourself of the sin that so easily entangles, but are you also genuinely considering those more subtle time wasters that hinder your obedience to the Lord?

Bubble Knee

Later we're going to have a post commemorating our ten years of Mystery Dinner Theater and some of the unusual moments we've encountered along the way. Right now I want to start it off by sharing the most recent: apparently between constantly going to one knee and also having an unfortunate dive while playing racquetball, I've discovered a sudden build up of fluid on my left knee cap.

It's either a bursitis or a ruptured bursa sac. It hasn't really grown any bigger than when I first discovered it. It's not painful and is mostly just a strange, creepy thing. But how long should I wait before getting it checked out? Will the fluid go away on its own? Will icing really help? Hmmm...

Yeah, There's a Great Idea

What do you do when you're a fledgling blogger who struggles with too many topics and wavers between a flurry of posts and extended periods of inactivity? Why, you start more blogs, of course!

I'm going to attempt to reorganize my thoughts into a few different blogs and see if that doesn't help me be more consistent in my posts. I've had trouble at times with this particular blog because the topics that I want to address don't have much to do with each other.

Therefore, I'm starting a new blog on the Chiefs (Chief Impressions) as well as one on campus ministry (College Ministry OJT). I think we're also going to start one that is more themed around the activities of our family and try Karin out as a contributing author there.

In the meantime, I'm hoping to make it work so this site imports directly from those other sites. That means this one will look just as jumbled as it ever did, but anyone interested in just one of those topics can steer clear of all the other stuff they don't like!

Anyway, that's the plan, and is what I'm currently working on.