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Continuing with the post from a few days ago about a little thing growing into a big thing, I have been thinking about a few people I know who were eaten alive by big things. Interesting that they all had one thing in common…they were once filled with passion for God and never thought they would ever fall away.  How did it happen?  Usually starts with a little thing.

A guy loves to surf and was told the best surfing was a Black’s Beach. In San Diego there are many beaches and everyone knows this one particular beach is a nude beach.  Kind of reminds me of the Garden of Eden, eat any fruit you desire but not that one.  My friend had many beaches to choose from but he chose that one. He claimed that he loved Jesus and the nudity did not bother him at all.  Oh? So you never, ever as a male struggle with lust? Ever?  Kind of like if I am an alcoholic I probably should not spend time sitting at a bar even if I am drinking just milk.  My friend fell away from God.

A friend has an unresolved conflict with his wife.  It continues unresolved until it is a big issue between them. He begins to receive attention from a very attractive woman who communicates he is all that.  She requested counseling from this pastor and he begins to meet with her.  The relationship with her grows.  He is disconnected from his wife.  There is an affair. A divorce. He is out of the ministry.

A friend is hurt by another. She refuses to forgive. She turns angry and bitter. Her fellowship with the Lord is broken.  Years pass and she wonders why her relationship with God is cold an stale.

A friend accidentally gets a pornographic photo on his computer. This has happened to most of us before. He takes it one step further and visits the site the next day. And then the next. And the next. He becomes addicted to porn. He falls away.

A friend decides to stop attending church because of the sin that she sees in the life of the people who make up the church. She decides she does not need the church to love Jesus. She forgot that Scripture teaches if you love me you will obey my word. (John 14:21)  She justifies not being obedient to Hebrews 10:24-25.  Disobedience always equals broken fellowship with God.  She fall’s away.  Over 20 years have passed since she stepped through the door of a church.

I could probably share 100 more examples of falling away from God.  The point is it can happen to any of us.  I know it could happen to me. We deceive ourselves when we don’t deal with the little things asap.  Once I heard Darryl Sanders, a co-worker with The Navs share that maturity is not someone who never falls but someone who is QUICK to deal throughly with sin. Ouch! Is there anything “little” you need to deal with? The reality is we don’t “fall away from God” but we walk away from Him. Are you walking toward Him or away from Him?

On my last post I wrote about the Bigger and Better game and how a little thing can become a big thing.  I’ve been thinking about that and had some thoughts I wanted to share.  Many years ago when I was a single staff with The Navigators I had the privilege of having breakfast with Lorne Sanny who at that time served as president of the organization.  Mr. Sanny was a godly ole grandfather type man with incredible wisdom.  We talked about many things that morning in Myrtle Beach, SC but something significant happened in that 2 hour breakfast that was a defining moment for me.  Toward the end of our meeting we spent just a couple minutes discussing ministry funding and he asked me if I was in debt.  I immediately replied no and we went on to another subject.  No sooner were the words out of my mouth that the Holy Spirit convicted me of my lie.  The truth was I was in debt.  I had a credit card that I did usually pay off monthly but the truth was I did have a debt at that moment.  Mr. Sanny left to go the meeting room where he was the keynote speaker that morning and I sat in my chair debating the Lord on whether or not it was a real lie since it was a monthly card.  After doing everything I could to justify my lie I confessed it to the Lord.  Immediately the Holy Spirit convicted my heart that I should confess to Mr. Sanny asap. I was horrified. Oh, good grief.  Why bother the man? He is so busy and in such demand at an event like this, etc. etc.  There was a sense of urgency in my heart that I must do this so I hurried to the conference room, pulled him aside and confessed that I had lied to him about the debt.  Mr Sanny responded…You did the right thing by quickly responding to the Holy Spirit.  Always keep short accounts with the Lord.  It is so important to respond to what may seem like a little thing before they turn into a big thing. Because it is usually the little things that will trip us up. His response to this situation impacted me more than anything else at the entire conference.  Actually it was a life changing moment for me. Mr. Sanny spoke from Psalm 119:176 that morning and challenged those of us in Christian leadership to pray that we would not wander away from the Lord.  The truth of the matter is a large number of us don’t finish the race well because we fall way from God.  How does this happen?  When we allow a little thing to grow into a BIG thing.  Is there any “little thing” in your life that you need to deal with today?  Any big thing?  The longer we delay the larger it will grow until it eventually has control over us.

Recently I read about the best way to trap a monkey. A hunter will place glass jars with a narrow opening and fill them with some peanuts. The monkey will smell the food, find it and place his hand into the jar enabling him to take hold of it. The monkey will refuse to drop the peanuts to free himself. This is how the hunter can easily trap a monkey.  What initially amazed me about this story was what a small item you need to catch a monkey.  Later I thought about how it is also amazing how small things in life will totally trap people.  Issues such as fear, bitterness, anger, jealously, envy, pride, low self esteem, discipline, addictions, complacency and attitude. I realize these are not necessarily “small” things but big things that started out as small things and grew huge. We get trapped when we refuse to open up our hand and let go. Is there anything in  your life that you are clasping onto that you need to drop?

When I was on staff with a campus ministry we played a game called Bigger and Better.  You start out on a Saturday morning, meet, pray and give each team of two a very small item such as a nickel, pack of gum, pencil, etc.  The objective is to go into a neighborhood or mall and tell people who you are and the game you are playing requires that you offer the little you have in hopes of getting something better.  Thus the name Bigger and Better.  Once when we played this game a team left with a piece of gum and returned with a couch!  Several hours later you meet to share about your experience, laugh together and share some refreshments. We would close the event with a message about God’s best.  It was always a blast.  Today I still think about this game because in reality it is part of the life of every Christian. God wants us to offer the little we have and trust him to give us something better. This is difficult sometimes because most of us want control and to make decisions on our own. It is only when we know our Heavenly Father and how much he loves us can we trust him to really give us something better.  Throughout the Bible we see that God’s will is always good, acceptable an perfect.  What are you clutching onto today in fear that God will not replace it with something better?

Inspired by Heni Nouwen…

What is it that makes power so tempting?  Could it be because power is easier than love?  Jesus asked “Do you love me?” The disciple said “Can we sit at your right and left hand in the kingdom?”  (Matthew 20:21)  Since Satan in the Garden of Eden said, “The day you eat of this tree your eyes will be open and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil” (Genesis 3:5), we have been tempted to choose power over love.  Jesus chose love over earthly power. What do you choose?

Have people ever expected you to be a superman or superwoman, doing spectacular things in the name of ministry?  The model marriage, model children, model walk with the Lord to start out with. Followed by ministry in the church, the community, and maybe on a national level. What about career success? Sometimes as a leader we can fall into this temptation and then we can’t stop talking about what WE are doing in these areas.  And when new opportunities come to be spectacular we can’t wait to share.  When we receive glory from people we can also give glory to people.  As I read about Jesus in the Bible I see that our purpose is to show Him off.  And glorify Him in all that we do.  The bottom line is anything worthy of praise is because of Him. Even my love is tainted and He enables me to love. I don’t even love God on my own…We love because he first loved us. Every person that I lead to Christ…No one comes to Christ unless he first draw them.  When I am tempted to be spectacular I pray I will remember Isaiah 42:8 “I am God.  That’s my name.  I don’t franchise my glory.”    Have you ever seen this in your own life or another?

At the beginning of last year I taught a community Bible study called Enjoying Intimacy With God.  My objective each week was to teach how we can know and experience God’s presence daily.  This can be a challenge when God’s presence is often a hidden presence, one that needs to be discovered.  The loud, boisterous noises of the world make us deaf to the soft, gentle and loving voice of God.  A Christian leader is called to help people hear that voice on their own.  Sometimes a leader is tempted to slip in to the role of adviser vs. teaching a person to listen and hear the voice of God.  The latter takes longer but is our responsibility.  The joy is seeing a person learn this is one of the greatest I have ever known.

Yesterday I shared how I have been reflecting on servant leadership.  When I experience this Biblical principle in action it catches me off guard. Could that be because it is a contrast of what we often see lived out?  Last week Todd called a couple of pastor friends to see if they might know of some available folks in their church who could help unload a huge truck.  On the day that the truck arrived we were very surprised that the two pastors (Rev. David Tubbs of Good Shepherd & Rev. Barry Dunn of Master’s Way) Todd called showed up.  It is a rare occasion that I am ever speechless but I was on that day.  Not only were other volunteers brought but the leaders came themselves.  Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers.

Henri Nouwen said Jesus has a different vision of maturity.  It is the ability and willingness to be led where you would rather not go.  After Peter had been commissioned to be a leader Jesus confronts him with the hard truth that the servant leader is the leader who sometimes will be led to unknown, undesirable, and painful places.  Biblical leadership is not about power and control, but a leadership of powerlessness and humility in which Jesus is glorified.  This is not a psychologically weak or passive leadership but a leadership in which power is constantly abandoned in favor of love.  I believe this is true spiriltual leadership.  Powerlessness and humility in the spiritual life is not referring to people who are wimps and have no spine and let everyone make decisions for them. This is referring to people who are so deeply in love with Jesus that they are ready to follow him wherever he guides them, trusting that in him we will find the life we are told to seek after.

Today I was inspired after reading the following blog post by Mark Batterson.  Before sharing it I want to say that I know how easy it is to stay in a comfort zone because it feels good.  Coasting is easy. Yet I know from experience that God did not call us to be comfortable.  We were called to obey His Word which will always stretch and grow us. He wants us to trust him and without stepping out of where we are we will miss experiencing Him in a powerful way.  The funny thing is when I do step out in faith and obedience there is such joy and renewed intimacy with Him that is worth everything.  All I have seen teaches me to trust Him for all I have not seen.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Go. Set. Ready.

There is an old adage: ready, set, go. And that is how many of us operate spiritually. But I wonder if our modus operandi should be: go, set, ready. If you wait till you’re ready, you’ll never go! I wasn’t ready to pastor. I wasn’t ready to get married. We weren’t ready to go multi-site. If I’ve learned anything I’ve learned this: you’ll never be ready.

I just read through the book of Acts and my macro observation is this: they didn’t over-analyze. They genuinely believed that the Holy Spirit would guide them and He did. It is such a spirit-prompted story.

I absolutely believe in cost-analysis and risk-reward ratios. In fact, Jesus told us to count the cost. But two thousand years ago he also said, “Go.” And he hasn’t said “stop” since. So why do we ask if we should go? Shouldn’t we ask if we should stay? I just wonder what the church would look like if we assumed go unless God said stop.

I know we need timelines and priorities and strategies. And I know you have to discern the Spirit’s leading in the unique circumstances of your life. But I also believe in Ecclesiastes 11:1: “cast your bread on the water for after many days you will find it again.” All I know is this: I don’t want to get to the of my life and wonder “what if”. It is the inaction regrets that haunt us. It’s what we could have, would have, and should have done that we will regret the most.

Go. Set. Ready.

posted by Mark Batterson