I was talking with some preacher friends of mine last weekend about a conference we had gone to recently. We hear a lot that it's not the size of your church but your faithfulness that matters. But the only guys teaching anything are the guys with 1000's of people in their churches. Seems a little inconsistent.
In this day and age it seems to be a lot about the size of your church. If you pastor a big church you must be a good leader, teacher, scholar, etc. But if you pastor a smaller church, well, nobody wants to go to a conference and learn how to be a small church pastor. In fact, television preachers would have you believe that if you are faithful then you are successful too. If you are faithful to God and let Him direct your path then you will have the job, car, home, family you want.
But is that really true? It is pretty clear that just because someone does what God wants them to in the Bible it almost NEVER means that they are successful.
Take John the Baptist. What do we know about him? Well, he was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth - only other person we could say that about is Jesus Himself. We know that he did exactly what God wanted him to do. We know that he never performed a miracle of any kind. We know that he lived alone in the wilderness. We know he wore camel hair clothes (imagine the stink and itchiness of that!) and that he ate locusts and wild honey.
Sound like a successful ministry to you? Oh yea, and he never "saved" anyone because salvation wasn't possible until the death and Resurrection of Jesus - which didn't happen for a few years after John's beheading! Another great sign of a successful ministry! You lose your head!
So, John the Baptist is NOT the poster child for getting into the ministry. But was he successful even though he didn't have a home, didn't eat in good restaurants, didn't have many friends, never grew a church or healed a disease? Yes. He was successful because he did exactly what God created him to do.
Sometimes I wonder why the church I pastor isn't bigger. Why people aren't asking me to speak at conferences. Well, Jesus said in John 6, "the work of God is to believe in the one that He sent." So that's what I'm gonna work on. If I've got that right then none of that other stuff matters. What are you trying to accomplish for the Kingdom? Don't be discouraged, believe and do. That's what you've been called to. Get that right and everything else is just gravy.
Thoughts on the Bible, Church, life and living it to its full potential in Jesus Christ!
1 comment:
I truly believe that God wants everyone to prosper. The biggest issue many face in these times is a true lack of belief in that God will make it happen. It starts and ends with the offering. People want to pray for wealth but fail yo invest their time and money in the right place. This is the only area of the Bible where God says to test him. With so many believers, it's a wonder we don't have more takers on this. There are more people trying to get rich the wrong ways which leaf to destruction. Approach God the right way and surely he will reward his children. I've made the comment before to my wife that even if people stopped gambling on the lottery or in casinos they would see their odds go from .01% to 100%. yet individuals still can't see the light. I will pray for your congregation to grow and prosper. Best wishes, Ryan.
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