What I Want To Do

This is what I want to do in 5 simple steps

1. I want to be a friend of God.
2. I want to comprehensively experience God's extravagant love for me.
3. I want to love people as extravagantly as I have been loved.
4. I want to introduce my extravagantly loving Friend to everyone I know.
5. I want to help others experience this ongoing love affair for themselves.

What do you want to do?

No More Infomercial Christianity

To all my colleagues in "the ministry" when we utilize hype, exaggeration or manipulation to communicate our message, promote our ministries or ask for financial support; we do more harm than good to God's Kingdom. The collateral damage is spiritually devastating to the churched, the unchurched and the post churched. It's wrong, it's deceptive, it's sin and it's time to stop it!

When we hype the supernatural we're actually desensitize people to the real presence and power of God. Using hype to promote ourselves or advance ministry is selfish and deeply damaging the work of Christ around the world. It would be better to do nothing than to employ these deceptive models. Enough is enough. No more infomercial Christianity. It's time to walk the walk.

How Can I Make My Church Grow?

In my travels I often have an opportunity to talk with pastors. In these conversations I’ve discovered that one of the foremost questions on the mind of American pastors is “How can I make my church grow?”

Asking how to make a church grow isn’t a bad question, it’s the wrong question. Here’s a better question for pastors to ask – Lord, what are you doing and how can I do it with you? If we honestly knew what God was doing and were able to faithfully cooperate in doing it with him, then it really wouldn’t matter if our church grew or if it didn’t. We’d be doing the will of the Father and in the end that’s all that truly matters… right guys?

Could it be that it’s all just a test, a test of our character, a test of our integrity, a test of our motives and a test of our hearts? Of the servant faithful with ten minas Jesus said…

'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'

In the economy of God’s Kingdom faithful stewardship of small matters like 100 days wages qualifies you to take charge of ten cities, wow! Could faithful stewardship of a small church qualify us for greater Kingdom oversight and responsibility? Scripture points to - yes.

Maybe, just maybe if we refuse to compromise to get big, we’ll refuse to compromise when we are big. And maybe, just maybe if we do compromise to get big, we will compromise to stay big.

Oh God, raise up shepherds and fathers who will be faithful in the small matters. Men who truly have clean hands and pure hearts, incorruptible men with untainted motives. Oh God make me just such a man, amen.

© Tom Zawacki 2008

Passion & Conviction!

In my previous post I issued the challenge “What Will You Fight For!” coupling it with one of my all time favorite movie scenes from Mel Gibson’s Braveheart. Answering my own question “What Will I Fight For” left me with a pile of refuge I realized I am NOT willing to fight for.

One of the cable networks has been playing Gladiator repeatedly the past few days. I love that movie. It stirs passion within me at a very deep level.

Most movie quote websites prominently posted the revenge scene dialogue where the now Gladiator Maximus finally has his opportunity to stand face to face with Emperor Commodus the former friend who murdered his way to the throne including Maximus’ wife and young son. Removing his mask Maximus reveals his true identity to a stunned Emperor Commodus and says:

“My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. I will have my vengeance, in this life... or the next."

Powerful scene, but not my personal favorite, the picture at the top of this post is from an obscure scene earlier in the movie. Here the yet to be murdered Emperor Marcus Aurelius (played by Richard Harris) offers the Roman Empire to Maximus – and I love his reply.

Marcus Aurelius: You have proven your valor once again, Maximus. Let us hope for the last time.

Maximus: There is no one left to fight, sire.

Marcus Aurelius: There is always someone left to fight. How can I reward Rome's greatest general?

Maximus: Let me go home.

Marcus Aurelius: Ah, home.

Marcus Aurelius: Won't you accept this great honor that I have offered you?

Maximus: With all my heart, no.

Marcus Aurelius: Maximus that is why it must be you.

Like Maximus, I will NOT fight for fame, for fortune, for title, for position, for glory, for a worldly measure of success, to build my own kingdom, or any man’s kingdom. Oh God make me a man after your own heart. May your passion surge through my soul! May I have the passions and convictions of Wallace and Maximus until my final breathe – so be it.

© Tom Zawacki 2008

Ready for Either

Mark’s Gospel records the account of James and John asking Jesus to sit on his right and his left in glory. In reply Jesus asks “can you drink the cup I drink?” They say “sure, why not” and Jesus tells them “you will”.

Author, theologian and bible commentator William Barclay comments on this text in his classic work “The Master’s Men” (page 101)…

“So then both of the brothers drank the cup of Christ. Let us see what the cup of Christ was. John went to Ephesus; he lived for almost a hundred years; and died in peace full of years and honor. James’s life was short, and came to an end swiftly and suddenly through martyrdom by the sword-and yet both drank the cup of Christ. There is a Roman coin, which has as its inscription the picture of an ox facing an altar and a plough, with the words: “Ready for either.” The ox must be ready for the dramatic sacrifice of the altar or the long routine of the plough. The Christian who dies in one heroic moment and the Christian who lives a long life of fidelity to Christ both drink the cup of Christ. The Christian . . . must be ready for either.”

I’m convinced, first we drink then we discover our fate. In the end it doesn’t really matter, the pay’s the same. For me the key to readiness is… I’m already dead.

“I have been crucified with Christ…” Galatians 2:20

“My life is not my own…” 1 Corinthians 6:19

“To live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

So Lord, what will it be today… altar or plough? My answer is yes.

© Tom Zawacki 2007

Stuck in My Head

Sometimes someone tells you something and it sticks with you, it really sticks with you. A close friend called me a few days ago and mentioned a verse from John chapter five.

Jesus responding to his detractors says… "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does" John 5:19.

It’s been stuck in my head ever since.

Like most everyone I know, I’m a busy guy. My Tungsten E Palm is filled with appointments, I’ve got 28 items on a to-do list, I can barely see the top of my artificial wood grained six foot by three foot desk and my inbox has 22 emails. Managing my schedule has required that I prioritize. Long ago I decided that…

~ People trump things
~ My kids trump people
~ My wife trumps my kids and
~ God trumps everything

I agree with those priorities, I’ve taught them from my pulpit and counseled others to embrace them but… am I really living them? Does God truly trump everything? Jesus’ statement convicts me. How much of what I do is what I do? And how little of it is what the Father is doing? Ouch! I’m pretty sure that ache I’m experiencing in the middle of my chest isn’t heartburn, it’s conviction. Here are some of the questions that have been stuck in my head…

~ If Jesus could do nothing by himself, how much can I do by myself?

~ What is the Father doing?

~ Am I capable of seeing it?

~ What does it look like?

~ Am I willing to stop what I’m doing to do what the Father is doing?

~ Even if I can see what the Father is doing, do I have the faith, the courage and the guts to do it… whatever it is?

Hmmm…

© Tom Zawacki 2007

Art Credit “Contemplation” by Justin Black

Why Church?

In light of my last post, we’re left with this question… Why Church? Why do we do it? Does it matter; is it having any measurable positive impact?

I read all 31 editorials. Wading through their jaded bitterness, biased agendas and crude judgments I actually discovered a measure of truth.

I was left with a few strong impressions… For most of these churches, it appears that their primary reason for existence was to make sure that they continued to exist.

Hmmm… that’s not good and it’s most certainly not enough.

What was missing from each of these gathering? Well, for one, God, God was missing. There wasn’t any discernable evidence of His manifest presence or power. If there had been, isn’t it fair to say that one of these reporters would have documented it?

So, with my previous post as a backdrop I pose the following question…

“Why Church?”

Why do we do this thing called church? Here's my short list…

~ To Encounter God: To know and experience Him.

~ Corporate Worship: That spiritually powerful synergy of joining together to extol His virtues and express our love for Him.

~ Community: A place to gather and relate with other followers of Jesus. Community provides companionship for the journey.

~ Inspiration & Challenge: To live lives worthy of the callings we have received.

~ Education & Training: To equip us to live supernatural lives with holiness and humility.

~ Service & Outreach: Allowing us opportunity to put our faith into action.

Why do you do church?

St. Paul warned us of “terrible times in the last days”, I fear they have arrived.

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5

© Tom Zawacki 2007

To The Core

I grew up a city kid. As typical Brooklynites my brothers and I loved sports. From sun up to sun down we’d spend our days around the corner on East 34th street playing stick ball or street football. I was 12 when my parents purchased that house - Dad still lives there. I can remember exploring the house with my brothers the day we moved in. When we reached the garage it was like finding Ali Baba’s treasure! We were overjoyed to find boxes and boxes filled with little league baseball equipment. We had uniforms, balls, bats, bases, mitts and even catcher’s gear. For three pre-teen boys it was like hitting the lottery.

I remember this one particular day, my brother Robert and I were playing catch in the alley back behind our house. We took one of the brand new baseballs from our treasure trove and practiced taking grounders on asphalt for hours. It was great fun. After many hours of fun filled abuse this once shinny, spotless and slick baseball had given up the ghost. The ball’s cover was torn revealing it’s stringy guts. I couldn’t have been more excited! I had to discover what was in the center of a baseball.

I sat on the floor, right there in our back alley and furiously tore the remnants of that poor tattered ball apart until I found the small, hard, red core at it’s center.

Hmmm… the core, what’s at the core? I’ve been thinking about that lately.

Sometimes I feel like that abused baseball… tattered, torn and well used with my guts hanging out. Maybe times like these are the right time to inspect my personal core and see what’s really in there?

If I peel back all my layers what would I discover at my core? Beyond the physical part of my nature, beyond my education and experiences, beyond my titles, positions and responsibilities, beyond my relationships… what’s really in there? What is my small, hard, red core composed of?

I see Passion

Passion for God ~ Passion for People ~ and Passion for Freedom.

What’s at your core?

© Tom Zawacki 2007

Pride is a Prison

This past Sunday my assistant Jenn filled our pulpit for the first time. Her topic was humility and she did a fantastic job. Jenn’s compassionate manner made her difficult message easy to receive. The old saying is true, “a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down”.

Since Sunday I’ve been thinking, there is great freedom in humility while pride is a prison. Over the years pride has locked me into mindsets, opinions and theologies that have separated, isolated and insulated me from others. On the other hand, humility has released me into a universe of unimaginable possibilities, creativity, experiences and relationships.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

Pride confines me within the opposition of God while humility affords me access to the limitless options available in God’s grace. Pride divides me from people, from organizations and from cultures. Humility puts out the welcome mat to my heart.

Some may say that this type of humility is too risky, leaving us too vulnerable. Hmmm, I wonder, isn’t the greater risk never risking at all? Isn’t that really just fear? And if we look closer, won’t we discover that it’s roots are deeply imbedded in pride. I believe we will and they are.

Jenn, thank you for challenging me. Father, thank you for truth that is setting me free. May I… may we… discover the fullness of freedom accessible in humility.

© Tom Zawacki 2007

Mid Life Crisis

Monday night my wife and I went out to dinner with some good friends. Over dessert our conversation turned to men and their mid life crises’. This reminded me of a book I had read years ago while navigating my own mid life crisis. The final chapter of John Sterner’s “Growing Through Mid-Life Crisis” list seven valuable pointers for men. For years I had these helpful reminders pasted to my desk.

1. Stop Trying to Figure it All Out
2. Don’t Look Back
3. Enjoy Yourself
4. Improve Yourself
5. Commit Yourself to a Cause
6. Involve Yourself with Others
7. Face the Facts, You are Getting Older

It was amazing how many times one of these seven simple tips would be exactly what I needed. As a matter of fact, they still speak to me, maybe they’ll speak to you as well, enjoy.

© Tom Zawacki 2007

Man vs. Boy

Here are a few insights I shared with my people last week.

Man vs. Boy

There is a difference between men and boys. The difference is easily discerned by recognizing the directional flow of life & strength. Boys derive strength & life from the woman while men give life and strength.

From the womb and at the breast a boy derives life and strength from his mother. A man on the other hand, literally inserts life and strength into his wife creating life.

Boys take selfishly.
Men give selflessly.

Weakness & Strength

I’ve never seen a healthy marriage where the woman is spiritually and emotionally stronger than the man. I’m not saying it isn’t possible, but in my 47 years I’ve never seen it.

Here are two unhealthy and dysfunctional ways that men interact with women. First, they use their weakness to manipulate the woman drawing upon her compassion and her maternal instincts for his selfish gain. Second, they control and dominate the woman treating her like a child. This is actually a poor attempt at masking their fears and insecurities, it’s really weakness disguised as strength.

A truly healthy relationship is made up of equal partners who love, trust and respects one another. This is what’s known as being equally yoked.

Q&A

Question: How does a weak man put strength into a strong woman?
Answer: He can’t. He must become stronger.

Question: How does a man become stronger?
Answer:
1. He cultivates a passionate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
~ He spends time in God’s presence.
~ He’s a worshipper.
~ He prays for his loved ones, for his friends, for his enemies.
~ He knows the word of God – he reads it, meditates on it and studies it.
~ He’s generous with his time, energy and money.
~ He’s humble.
~ He has a servant’s heart.
~ He’s sensitive to the leading and moving of the Holy Spirit.

2. He takes responsibility for his life
~ He tenaciously pursues healing of his hurts and wounds
~ Especially the wounds created by his father.

3. He refuses to allow his past to dictate his future.
~ He learns from both the good and bad experiences of his life
~ He learns how to be a Godly man, husband and father from both the positive and negative role models in his life.

Sex and Romance

A woman will give sex to receive romance/love
A man will give romance/love to get sex.

Men, this is evil, don’t do it!

Manipulation - Men
Because she has a strong maternal instinct and a compassionate heart, a woman may be attracted to a broken and wounded man. However, if he remains broken and wounded, she will lose respect for him and grow to despise him. A man may “play” a woman by faking weakness, thus pulling on her maternal instincts to get his way.

Men, this too is evil, don’t do it!

Manipulation - Women
A man may love the experience of being a white knight in shinning armor who rescues a damsel in distress. However, if he has to rescue her, and rescue her, and rescue her, and rescue her – the relationship gets old and wearisome and the man loses respect for the woman. Rescuing is wonderful but it should not become the on going model and standard of your relationship.

When considering a mate give thought to the verbiage of the traditional wedding vows:
In the Name of God, I, ____ take you, ____., to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.

All relationships are easy in the better, richer and healthier times. The true test of a relationship comes in the worse, poor and unhealthy times!

In Ephesians 5 Paul challenges husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, I ask you this question, how did Christ love the church?

He laid down his life for her.

It wasn’t all about Him.

Men, it’s not all about you.

I challenge every man who reads this post – love your wife as Christ has loved you! Lay down your life for her. That’s our standard, she's worth it, let’s do it.!

© Tom Zawacki 2007

**Note** The article was heavily influenced by the writing of John Eldredge, especially "Wild at Heart"

Go This Way...

Yesterday’s video post found a place to land in my heart. The paragraph I highlighted in red landed the hardest.

“The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.
We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . .
Using technologies that haven’t been invented . . .
In order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”

If this is true, it ought to impact what we teach our children. I believe that we need to offer them the highest levels of academic and technical training available. However, we shouldn’t stop there. More is need, more than just information.

Proverbs 22:6 says:

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

This generation needs more than the coordinates of their destination. They need more than directions from a Google map to get from here to there. They need to be trained in the way they should go.

On “the way” consider these questions…

Who are you on the journey?
What values guide you?
What passions propel you?
What beliefs sustain you?

We can only give away what we ourselves possess. I’m committed to giving away what I’ve discovered on my journey.

~ That freedom is contagious and attractive. It’s hard to gain, easy to lose and worth dying for, ask Jesus.

~ That passion though dangerous is essential and when tempered with wisdom, brings extraordinary joy to living.

~ That the supernatural life of the Spirit is much more accessible than previously thought and more amazing than we ever imagined!

~ That knowing God intimately and personally surpasses everything else combined.

If we can impart these essential elements into the next generation, they will be ready for the future even if the future isn’t yet ready for them!

© Tom Zawacki 2007

Photograph by Andy Andrews

More on Motives

Ok, I have some additional thoughts concerning yesterday’s post about motives. With clean motives and a pure heart you don’t need to worry about means and opportunity however, what do you do if your heart isn’t pure? What is one to do when dealing with unclean motives?

We all have the responsibility of dealing with our own motives, clean or unclean. Some of us have the responsibility of contending with the motives of others. Parents have this responsibility over their children, employers can have it when dealing with their employees and sometimes pastors have this responsibility with the members of their churches.

The natural inclination when contending with another’s perceived impure motives is to place restrictions on their means and opportunities. This works easily when a parent is dealing with their children and it can even work fairly well in the employer employee relationship. It gets more difficult however, when the authority structure of the relationship is less defined or enforceable. How much clout does a brother, sister, pastor or a friend really have in the life of another person? Honestly, only as much as they give you.

It’s very easy to get yourself in trouble when judging the motives of another person’s heart. Honestly, how can you really know for sure? I’ve found it is best to just leave it in God’s hands. It’s not my job to judge, even if I do have the responsibility of dealing with the consequences.

If I see a problem and I’m concerned, I can always pray. I can even discuss my concerns with the person. Beyond that, there really isn’t much I can do. If I’ve discerned correctly and my counsel goes unheeded, I’ll have an opportunity to love on that person in the midst of their consequences. If I’m wrong, I’ve saved a friendship by withholding judgment. I’ve learned the hard way that when I misjudge someone it will cost me dearly. Jesus put it this way in John chapter 8:

"Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her."

I think I’ll just leave my stones on the ground and keep my hands in my pockets.

© Tom Zawacki 2006

Means, Motive & Opportunity

I’ve been a fan of Law & Order for years, I’ve even enjoyed some of the spin offs. When the detectives are trying to build their case they look for Means, Motive & Opportunity. If they can prove these three elements of the crime and attach them to a suspect, you know an arrest isn’t far away. What is true in the natural is often true spiritually. Violating civil law is akin to committing a sin. We commit sin when we have the means, the motive and the opportunity.

Let’s take murder as an example. The means would be a hand gun, let’s say the motive is hatred and the opportunity is being alone in a dark alley. Over the years I’ve watch Christians develop various forms of control to keep themselves from violating the law and committing a crime, aka sin. They institute spiritual gun control; if I remove the means to sin, I will not sin. Or they say that dark alleys are out of bounds, don’t go there. The logic being, no opportunity equates to no sin. With this objective in mind how many of us have thrown away televisions or records over the years?

Means and opportunity are external and we can have only limited success controlling them. Why, because we have incredibly creative minds. If I don’t have a gun, I’ll pick up a stick or a rock. If there are no dark alleys I can find some other equally secluded location. No, if we are truly going to overcome our propensity for sin, the change will have to be internal; we will have to address the question of our motives. If our motives are changed we can have a house full of guns or live in a dark alley and we won’t sin.

Ask yourself this question… why do you do the things you do? Discover the real answer to that question and you’ll discover your motives. Freedom, true freedom is found not in layers of laws and regulations but rather in a clean heart with pure motives. King David clearly understood this concept. I make his words my prayer.

Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; see for yourself whether I've done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life. Psalm 139:23-24 The Message

© Tom Zawacki 2006

Weeding My Garden

My adult son lives about three and a half hours away from us. I picked him up earlier today and took him back with me. He’s having a tonsillectomy in a couple of days and will be recuperating at home. The hours alone in the car were profitable. The popular words of Psalm 46:10 came to mind “Be still and know that I am God”.

Over the past year I have discovered again and again the value of being still before God. He delights to reveal himself to me in those quiet times. Sometimes the busyness of life gets the best of me and I allow myself to be robbed of this precious gift. The past few days have been very busy. It was nice to have the alone time in the car.

The miles brought clarity then conviction and finally peace. The Lord reminded me that I will reap what I sow. It’s a truth, a natural and spiritual law that is inescapable. If I sow carrot seeds - guess what, I get carrots. If I sow tomato seeds I’ll get tomatoes. I can’t expect to reap cherries if I sow radishes.

For me the application was clear… the way I treat others is the way I will be treated. If I sow anger, I will reap anger. If I sow mercy, I will reap mercy. If I sow pride, I will reap pride. If I sow humility, I will reap humility. If I sow grace, I will reap grace and if I sow love, I will reap love.

Father, Jesus said you are The Gardener. Gardener come, tend my garden. Plow my soil. Remove my weeds. Remove my thorns. Remove my stones. Change my crops to your crops until your fruit is borne in me, amen.

© Tom Zawacki 2006

Why = What + How

(I’ll continue with the baseball vision in my next post however, I’ve had a few thoughts concerning leadership & freedom…)

Why do we do what we do? Motivations, over the years I’ve gotten into the habit of regularly asking myself why I do the things I do. If we can answer the question why, we’ll gain great insight into what we do and how we do it.

Success, what is Success?

I’m concerned. I’m concerned about the church and I’m concerned about pastors. Over the last 20 years I have served as a pastor in three different states, New York, West Virginia and Washington. In each location I’ve personally know men and women who’ve served the Lord faithfully and selflessly. Unfortunately I’ve also know others who’ve worked very hard building their little ministries into big ministries and their own kingdoms at the same time.

Just over a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer, a medically incurable form of Non Hodgkin Lymphoma. Stage 1C, Follicular small cleaved, B-cell NHL. I did a round of chemo and six months later I did some follow up antibody treatments. Presently I’m in remission. Yeah God! I’m scheduled for another round of PET scans, CAT scans and antibody treatments in June.

While I was in the middle of the first round of chemo I attended a meeting of some local pastors. After the meeting we went out for lunch. One of the pastors turned to me and asked a philosophical question:

“So, tell me Tom, what have you learned from having cancer”?

Without a moment’s hesitation I offered this reply – “I’ve learned that not all growth is good”. The table suddenly fell silent.

Pastors, especially American pastors are obsessed with growth. Somehow the American church has bought into the western worldview mindset that bigger is better. Church success is measured by attendance, budgets, square footage and staff. If you pastor a large church with a seven figure budget and modern facility you’ve successfully built the Kingdom of God.

Hmmm… maybe not

OK, let me be brutally honest here… though I doubt any of the pastors I know would state it just that way – actions do speak louder than words. In a search for validation and significance often driven by their insecurities pastors have developed a cancer of their own and it’s called selfish ambition. The Apostle James warns us:

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing”.

To the pastors out there, does that sound harsh? Maybe it is, but here’s the acid test, how do you feel when one of your church members visits another church? Do you feel jealous, angry, betrayed resentful, hurt? If so why? How do you honestly feel when another church or pastor is being blessed? Does it get your competitive juices flowing or do you rejoice with them?

At best we’re spiritual fathers; at least we’re stewards, custodians of the gifts of God that these people are. We don’t own them, they’re not ours to control. They belong to God and He can do with them as he wills. If God can move us across the country to a new pastorate he can certainly move his people across town. As good fathers we would raise our “kids” to grow up and leave the house. It’s pretty sad to see a 35 years still living with mommy and daddy.

Why = What +How

Our motivations are revealed by our activities and our methods. Evangelism is a great example of this. Is your evangelism program designed to build the Kingdom of God or is it designed to grow your church? Are you willing to invest time, energy and money into an evangelistic outreach if people are nudged closer to God or even get saved but no one from it attends your church services?

Our motivations will also impact our relationship, how we treat the people in our lives and those under our care. Do we view our role as one that assist people in reaching their destiny or do we view people as the building blocks to help us fulfill our callings? Listen to me, God will take your best – bless them and let them go. Give and it will be given to you, press down shaken together and running over.

My point is this, if our motivation is to build a bigger church our “what” and “how” are going to be impacted. Please hear me, there is extraordinary freedom if we let this success driven mindset go. Let’s start by asking different questions. Instead of asking God how can I grow my church let’s ask him what He is doing and how can we cooperate with Him. I have a plaque over my desk. I can see it as I’m typing. It says:

“Father, how can I cooperate with you today to advance the purposes of heaven”?

I’d said to those pastors at lunch what if a world famous prophet came through the door, poured a flask of oil over one of our heads and prophesied “You have the anointing of Abraham, you will be the father of nations, an Abraham to your generation” and turned around and walked out the door. We would be stunned, surprised and excited. But what would that mean? Abraham was the father of nations but all he had to do was raise one son and he messed that up. All his son did was raise one son but nations came from it. What if we simply ask God what He wants us to do and then we go and do that. What if you’re called to raise up one spiritual son, just one? Jesus said that he did only what he saw the Father doing. What is the Father doing around you? Go and do that.

What if we hear God perfectly and we obey his directions perfectly and as a result we lose 40% of our people, is that success or failure? It’s success if your motivation is to do what He’s doing. Hey, think about this: John 15 says that he prunes the fruitful and the unfruitful – either way you’re getting cut.

If we can be free from selfish ambition and the fear of man ministry can be a lot more fun again. If we can be free from the worlds standard of success and simply walk with our Father and go where he goes and do what he’s doing maybe the dropout rate and infidelity rate in the ministry wouldn’t be so high. Remember why you got into ministry in the first place. Wasn’t it out of a passion for God, His people and the lost? I don’t know of anyone who got into the ministry to be an administrator, accountant or politician.

Be free my brothers be free. If we can walk in freedom, so will our people.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1

© Tom Zawacki 2006