The leader stops having a passion for the ministry and the people in the ministry and for the Lord. The example of this is the king called Amaziah in 2 Chronicles 25:2 "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not wholeheartedly." That is one of the most subtle traps in ministry. Go through the motions, serve the Lord but not with your heart. Do it because you know it's the right thing to do but you're not doing it with your whole heart. The Living Bible says "He did what was right but sometimes he resented it." That's not the way to minister. The Good News says "He did what was right but he did it reluctantly."
Why is it that people who are serving in ministry often stop caring about it? What causes that loss of passion? What causes people to lose their motivation, to loss the heart, the love that they once had?
I think there are three things that cause a loss of spiritual passion:
1. Familiarity with spiritual matters. In other words, you're around it so much you become accustomed to the things of God and nothing seems like a miracle anymore. You can hear so many answered prayers or you can see so many lives changed, you forget that most of the people don't live this way. Most of the people have no hope and have no joy and are barely making it in life. You forget that they way you feel is not normal for most people. Most people feel hopeless. They don't understand the hope.
2. A lack of balance. I want to urge you as the core of this church – the people I depend on, the people that you make the ministry happen in this church – balance your life. Take time to have fun. Jesus did not say, "I've come that you might have meetings. What would happen if all of a sudden we cut out all the meetings, what would be left of Christianity? Jesus said "I've come that you might have life," not meetings. There's got to be something there for everybody but if you're going to have a good home life you've got to be home. At least. And if you're not, then something's out of order in your life. You get out of balance and pretty soon you get out of balance and you stop caring.
3. Compassion fatigue.
I have to fight this constantly. Those of you who have done counseling know what I'm talking about. There is a limit to the number of people's problems you can handle. I can't handle so many problems at one time, neither can you. Nobody can. So you have to learn the antidote for not losing your heart. Look at Hezekiah "Hezekiah was successful because in everything he did, he did it with a spirit of complete loyalty to the Lord." Maintain your spiritual passion. If you don't maintain your spiritual passion, your ministry is going to plateau. How do you maintain your spiritual passion? Two ways:
1. Never forget your motive for serving. Never forget why you're doing this. Not to make a big name, not because it's always fun, not because I'm not getting paid for it. I'm doing this for Jesus' sake. That's why you're in ministry. You owe your life to Jesus Christ and so do I. And out of gratitude for what He did for me on the cross and my love for Christ and out of the knowledge that one day I'm going to stand before Him and hear Him say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant," that's what motivates me. You never forget your motive.
2. Never stop praying. 2 Chronicles 26:5 is about Uzziah, another king, "As long as he sought the Lord, God gave Uzziah success." As long as I seek the Lord, God will bless my ministry. As long as you seek the Lord, God will bless your ministry. Never stop praying. "Ask the Lord to bless your plans and you will be successful in carrying them out." Do you pray about your ministry or do you just do it? You ought to pray about your ministry. Ask God to bless it.
In the book of Revelation, there's the story about the church at Ephesus. God says "I've got one thing against you. You've lost your first love." They had stopped caring. And when they lost their first love, God said to do three things. This, by the way, is the way to restore a lost love in a marriage. If someone says, "I don't love my husband/wife anymore," tell them to do these exact three things: Remember, repent and return and do the things you did first.
Remember. Remember the way it used to be when you were in love with Jesus. What you need to do when you've lost your passion for ministry, you stop caring, you need to stop and say, "What was it like when I first came to Christ?" Can I remember that joy, that excitement, that thrill, that freshness, that newness? Can I remember that? Think on it.
Repent. Turn your mind around. Metanoia. Reverse your mind. Look at your ministry in a different way.
Do the things you did first. In a marriage, when you want to restore love, you start acting the way you used to act when you were in love. Act your way into a feeling. Even if you don't feel it. It's easier to act your way into a feeling than it is to feel your way into an action. If you act loving, those feelings will come back. So return and do the things you did at first.
What did I do when I had a passion for the Lord? I had a quiet time. I got together with other Christians. I was fellowshipping with the Lord. I did the things that brought me joy.
A leader stops caring – the antidote is maintain your spiritual passion.
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