As we approach Easter weekend and all its ministry activities, here’s something I’m noticing. Many, if not all, of the people serving to make Easter services happen are pushing themselves to the point of exhaustion. I recently overheard someone say in regards to overexhausted leaders, “Jesus is alive but you look dead.”
This makes me question if working the servants to the point of the exhaustion is worth it. One may say it’s worth it if it saves one person from hell. This then reflects the primary value of the church: saving lost souls. But is this the primary mission of the church? I grew up in a parachurch ministry and then a church plant that had as their primary mission evangelism so I understand the value of it.
However, as I study Scripture, I’ve come to realize that salvation is only a part of what the church does but not its primary mission. Some would think that statement is sacrilegious. Doesn’t Jesus talk about The Lost Coin, The Lost Sheep, and The Lost Son in Luke 15? Didn’t God command Jonah to preach a message of salvation to the Ninevites? Weren’t the people in the book of Acts supposed to go out into all the known world to preach the gospel of Jesus?
I would say yes to all of those questions. But that’s not its primary mission. Romans 15:9 says people are saved for a reason. They are saved from something for something. Here’s the reason: to glorify God. Simple isn’t it? When translated from the Greek word doxa, to glorify God means to make Him famous. Everything we’re supposed to do is to make God famous. Ministering, serving, teaching, preaching, greeting…all to make God famous. But that also includes resting, reading, washing dishes, doing homework.
Some people think that we can only glorify God when we are in church praising God or serving, or when we’re sharing the gospel. But glorifying God permeates every area of our lives. It’s supposed to be a lifestyle.
There has been such an emphasis on ministry that it has led to a leadership myth. This is something I learned from Andy Stanley when he spoke at the 2006 Willow Creek Leadership Summit. He also wrote about it in his book, Choosing to Cheat: Who Wins When Family and Work Collide. When he first planted North Point Community Church, he was so busy with ministry that he wasn’t able to spend as much time as he wanted with his family. Thus his prayer would be, “Father, I love the church so please bless my family.” Years later, he saw how biblically wrong that was and changed his prayer, “Father, I love my family so please bless the church” and made a conscious decision to not allow ministry to overwhelm this family.
He continued to say many leaders live in fear. He summed it up with the phrase which I call the Leadership Myth, “If I don’t, it won’t.” In other words, many leaders believe they need to do a lot of ministry otherwise the kingdom will collapse. Leaders have been guilted into ministry so much that it has taken a toll on personal lives. They have forgotten what Jesus said in Matthew, “I will build the church.” Instead, today’s leaders take the place of Jesus and say, “I will build the church.”
One of the reasons I believe leaders don’t last is because they have grown up with the mentality that the church depends on them. Jesus is no longer the savior, they are. Thus there is a constant do-do-do mentality with an overemphasis on ministry and an underemphasis on character development. This is why we see so many grumpy, unhappy, tired, exhausted leaders. They don’t know how to say no because they were never taught that they could.
Being a servant doesn’t mean you have to say yes to every ministry opportunity. Being a servant means saying yes to what the Lord has called you to and saying no to what he hasn’t. When we do this, we will glorify the Father.
Questions to Think About:
Are you feeling tired and overexhausted from ministry? What do you need to say no to?
Are you afraid that if you don’t minister that you are disobeying God? Do you believe God has called you to every ministry you are doing?
© Gary Lau 2013
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