Attendance vs Membership

February 10, 2010

This is the second part of a 2-post blog about church, before you read any further I would urge you to read the first part before you read this one.    You can link to it here.   http://wp.me/prUzS-4W

My advice to you or anyone who has a negative opinion about church or a particular church would be this; Get over it.  Now I said that in a nice way and I was smiling.    But seriously, find a church that preaches the whole word of God and that you can be a part of and join it.  Notice I said JOIN the church, not just merely ATTEND it.  I see a growing trend in today’s society where people are not joining a church, but rather that’s where they “attend.”   When you join a church, you say “I want to be apart of this local body of believers.”  You plant your life there and you are willing to do anything to see the body grow and thrive.  After all, if  the body dies so do all the organs within the body.  I love the example from Rick Warren book (Purpose Driven church) where he illustrates in a story that a part of the body doesn’t go and plant itself into another body when the body gets sick or hurt.  There is no “organ jumping” in our physical bodies, so why do so many people do it in the church.  There are of course many valid reasons why you might change churches (move, doctrine disagreement, etc.)

One of the reasons I think many people don’t join a church today is to avoid accountability.  They might not admit it at first, but might have had thoughts like the following ones below.  

  • “If I’m not a member of church X, then I can leave anytime I want to and go to church Z.” 
  • ” When I hear something that I don’t like or makes me uncomfortable I can pack and go.”
  • “I can live my life as I want to and if the church disagrees then I can find another church that agree’s with me and not learn and take correction.”  

Church begins to take on the same approach that some take a marriage, I’ll try it and see if it works, but at the first sign of trouble, I’m gone.

 Don’t let other people and their actions keep you from having the kind of faith that you are supposed to have being a part of a church body.  Seek forgiveness from other Christians and reconciliation when needed and enjoy the benefits it will bring. Many people would rather just pack and go and start over in a new church rather than to try and work out their differences and seek reconciliation and peace.  Doing the right thing, the Biblical thing is not always the easiest choice, but it is the most fruitful and the choice that God will bless. 

I realize as a minister I see things in a different light than someone else might see it.  I would welcome comments or other thoughts on the matter.  If you have any other theroies about why people would not join a church but become a lifelong guest.

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Posted by John Weldon

I Had a Drug Problem

February 8, 2010

Yesterday,  I was sick and did not feel like spreading my germs around the church so I made the decision to stay home and try to rest up.   I let the kids sleep late and didn’t tell them we were not going to church.  In a panic my oldest came running down the stairs to tell me we over slept and were gonna be late for church.  I explained to her what happened and she went promptly back to bed.  Later in the day,  I made a comment that church should be just about over now, and my youngest said “They had church without us?” in a puzzled 4-year-old boy look.  I calmly explained to him that we are not the focus of church, Jesus was and that they would have church with or without us.   His response was comical, he said “Well, they shouldn’t do that!!”  I had a laugh and went on with my lunch.

Before I go any further, I want this Blog to come out as humble as I can and not with a hint of pride at all, that’s not what I’m thinking or after.  My sole wish is just to encourage those I have connection with to not give up on church.

As I sat there, I had one of those reflecting moments where you just see how you are blessed.  Church has been a part of my life since I’ve been alive and the same can be said for my kids, they have been involved in church as long as they have been alive as well.   Years ago, in sharing my testimony I used to jokingly start it out with “I had a drug problem…”  it would usually catch the person’s attention, and at least cause them to zone in, for at least a couple of minutes.  The rest of my opening sentence would say something like this,  “I had a drug problem…  I was drug to church.”  After few years I stopped saying that after my mom pointed out once that they really never had to drag me to church anytime, it was more of a voluntary move on my part.   Either way I am glad the church has always been a part of my life.  It is what helped me come to a realazation that I was hopeless and headed nowhere without Christ as my savior. 

The word church stirs up all kinds of emotions in different people.   For some, no doubt that it is an exciting place where God energizes his people and motivates them into ministries and missions, for others it’s a place of refueling a place to get out of the mess of the world, a safe place, still to others the word church might come in a negative light.   To them it is a place where promises are broken, lives are hurt, and injustices are seen.  If you have a negative attitude on church let me remind you of a few things about church that might just help you in your understanding of it.

1. The church is made up of the people not the building. (Acts 14:27 )  The church is alive and breathing it is not dead and gone.  The church is the bride of Christ. (Ephesians 5:25-30)  One day Jesus will return for his bride.(1 Thessalonians 4:17)  The church is where the people are, when they meet to fellowship, worship, disciple each other and team together for ministry and missions.  God ordained the church and it was His wish that the body of Christ work together as a local church. (Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 4:12)

2. Because the church is made up of people, it is not perfect.  Because we are all sinners and imperfect (Romans 3:23), so will the church be.  Jesus was the only perfect person to walk the earth and there has not been another one since He left.  Unfortunately people will let you down.  Even worse godly men who lead in churches each week can fall to sin and do more damage than a 2-ton wrecking ball.   I know I have done things in the past, (not immoral issues),  that have cause a negative light to fall on God and his church.  My aim is to try to not let that ever happen again. (1 Corinthians 10:32)  Other church members view their church more as a social club and want to take ownership of it with power-tripping decisions and arguments that cause the average non-church-going person to say “I don’t want any part of that.”  If you’re looking for the “perfect church” you will never find it.

I will finish my thoughts on church in a second post.  I just don’t want this to become to long and cause anyone to fall asleep reading it. But,  as for me and my kids, we are going to continue to stay involved in church and I will drag my kids to church if I have to, but I don’t see that being a problem in the future at all.

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Posted by John Weldon

Every Leader Needs a… Jethro?

February 3, 2010

Jethro Bodine

That’s right, Every leader needs a Jethro, and no, I’m not talking about the one from the Beverly Hillbillies, but a much older one and one who was very wise.  This Jethro was the father-in-law to Moses. 

Jethro giving Moses advice

After the Israelites made their way into the dessert and begin to get used to the new life of Manna, Quail, and water from a rock things began to settle down.  Jethro had heard of all the great events that had taken place for Moses and the Israelites and wanted to reunite his family together again.  After meeting up in the dessert with his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro, and their two sons Moses began to share in person all the mighty works that God had done for them.  (Ex. 18:1-11)

After Moses spend some time with the family, it was then time for him to get back to work.  What did Moses do for work?  According to the scripture (Ex 18:13-16) he sat around all day acting as sole judge for the people handling disputes and arguments over everything from A to Z.

When Jethro saw what was going on he recognized that it was not a good thing that Moses was doing.  I think he saw the beginnings of a workaholic in the makings and perhaps new what it might do to Moses and his family.  Jethro offers some great advice to Moses and we will take a look at it and break down the advice, but, first it is important to see that Moses took the advice from Jethro and didn’t ignore it.  (Ex 18:24)  I think that this was a big step in the “young” leadership level of Moses.

The following are 3 reasons why we might not be as smart as Moses and ignore advice from others.  First, because far too many times we as leaders think we have it all figured out and we often turn a deaf ear to other advice from Godly men and women.  After all, God put us in charge right?  It also could be that we are insecure about our position and don’t want to take advice from others in fear that we will not look as smart.  Yet, another reason might be that we are in the position and enjoying the power a little too much and we don’t yield ourselves to other advice because we see it as a sign of giving up power.  

If you have found yourself dealing with any of those thoughts you need to pray them out of your system and recognize that Satan doesn’t want you to be smart like Moses and learn from others around you that are older and have more experience.  Young leaders have a greater tendency to fall into these pitfalls because they have had fewer years of experience and that budding desire to be young man or woman of God sometimes leads us make hasty decisions that we think are correct, but are not.  There is much excitement and emotion in youthfulness.

So let’s take a look at the advice that Jethro gave Moses.  There is much we can learn from his advice also.

The wisdom of age allowed Jethro to point out to Moses the end result. (Ex 18:17-18)  There is a lot to be said about knowing the end result.  Often times we start a process or idea without often thinking all the way through to the end.  This can lead to unnecessary steps in a plan or even repeated steps in a plan which wastes time, energy, and resources.

Second, Jethro encouraged Moses to use other people and not try to do it all by himself.  This process is called delegation.  Not too many leaders want to dive into that because they would rather “do it their way” or “in their time.”  Again I think there is a fear of giving up power or control when you delegate things.  When you have delegation in ministry you have to share the successes and the defeats, the good and the bad.  A selfish person finds it hard to share success with others, but there is no room for selfishness in ministry.

Jethro reminded Moses what his main job was, to be the representative from God to the people and to teach the laws of God and show the people how to live.  (Ex 18:19-20)  The judging had become a bigger issue for Moses and distracted him from his main purpose as leader of the Israelites.

Jethro’s advice was to select “capable men” (Ex 18:21) and not just anybody to share in the responsibility and position.  Here is the last leadership principle found in this chapter, Good leaders surround themselves with other good leaders or team members.

 Notice the “capable men” were described as godly men of integrity not as good-looking, well-liked, popular, those that have $20 haircuts or have beautiful families.  Jethro used the following descriptions:

            Men who fear God

            Trustworthy

            Men who hate dishonest gain

These 3 descriptions are very similar to the qualifications for deacons and overseers found in Timothy.  A good Baptist joke I know is that there are some churches that will take the list in Timothy and only focus on the divorce issue.  It doesn’t matter what kind of person they are as long as they haven’t been divorced.  That one qualification seems to rise to the top over the other ones.  A friend of mine has joked before that you can be a non-tither, wife and child beater and serve as a deacon as long as you haven’t been divorced in some churches.  Not all churches are like that and carefully look at all the qualifications equally. 

 A sure way to cause problems for yourself in leadership is just to settle for anyone to serve and help you in ministry and just throw anyone into a position without first.  I realize that you may say, there are not a lot of candidates to choose from out there, which is true but you can’t lower the Biblical standards just to fill a position.  There must be another way to go about staffing your needs.

 The result of shared ministry and delegation is that you can accomplish more together as a team than you can alone.  The old Oxen story goes that if 1 ox can pull 500 pounds each, but 2 oxen yoked together can pull 1,200 pounds.  Together more is accomplished.  Look at the Exodus 18:23, the scripture says it will both benefit Moses and the people at the same time.

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Posted by John Weldon

Lady Gaga vs Celine Deon, Style over Substance

February 1, 2010

Wow, watching the Grammy’s Sunday night was a again an interesting affair.  I really don’t care for some of the things they do on the Grammy’s  They are always hosted by liberal people who want to push the envelop and create a “wow” factor that you just won’t forget, until a week or two later and the next “wow” factor occurs.   I still like to watch the Grammy’s  for the wide spectrum view inside the culture of youth and to at least take what was seen and turn it into a teachable moment.

Lady Gaga nd Celine Deon

So what did I see last night as a teachable moment?  Lady Gaga vs Celine Deon; Style over substance.  First, let me say I am not a fan of either one of these women, but I am familiar with their music and a little about their singing style and have heard both sing on live performances.  Making a quick comparison between these very different ladies you can see that each has their own different style and genre of songs.  The never ending charades with her outlandish outfits and racy lyrics are the center of all things Lady Gaga.  While Celine Deon relies mostly on her singing ability and powerful words in her song to sell her records.  So who’s more popular and looked at by millions of teens recently, Lady Gaga of course.

This just builds to the case of what I have seen recently in and around church life that given the choice most people will choice style over substance.  We don’t want quality any more, we just want to be entertained.   These discussions have brought to life the phrase “An Entertainment Society” I see where that is so very true.

I see this not only in the secular realm, but also in the church as well.   Most people would rather be entertained by worship music than take part in worship.  Most students would rather be kept laughing and playing games than to endure a 20 minute Bible study.  For several years now I have talked with other pastors and youth pastors in ministry about the nature of church and what we present before the youth of America.  It is scary to see some churches and student ministries that try to copy the ways of the world and the first thing to go is the great substance of the word of God.  I want to be clear here, I am all for funny and some great games, but when you drop the substance and replace it with water-down  message of God for style and entertainment I think you need to go back to the drawing board.  I do believe you can have both.  It is possible to have both a great show of style and the deep substance of music lyrics or of a Bible study.  A win-win combination.

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Posted by John Weldon

Who do I File a Complaint With?

February 1, 2010

One of the great blessings you can receive from being a leader is to have a great group of followers.  It’s always encouraging to have people who are under your leadership that will support you in your endeavors and not question your actions and motives.  It helps build unity and can have a synergistic effect on the group, or body of Christ.  Just like becoming a great leader takes time, so does become a great follower.  And then again some people just never get it for what ever the reason.  Realizing that it takes time to develop will hopefully give you a little more patience and understanding in your area of leadership.

BUT, what do you do when you have those in the group that want to complain about something?  The complaint may be against you or something else that you have no control over, but as the leader you are the one that they will come to complain to, aren’t you the lucky one. 

When you move on in life you will always find complainers in everything you do.  The Israelites first complained to Moses saying we should have never left Egypt, at least we had food in the pot there.  (Ex 16:2-3)  They had taken a step of faith to follow Moses into the dessert and again just like the grumbling at the Red Sea, they began to grumble and complain at the first sign of trouble of no food.  Verse 2 says that the entire community was a part of the grumbling.  This just goes to show you that the Israelites must have been Baptist, you can’t mess with a Baptist’s food without expecting repercussions.  In reality it shows you that complaining can get to everyone and it can spread pretty easily.  In church and ministry situations you can find complaints coming from the most unlikely sources as well as the expected ones.   I imagine that the complaints started in one area or two of the entire camp and quickly worked their way around to the entire camp.  Times haven’t changed much and I know still that people like to talk.

Again, Moses wasted no time dealing with the complaints but immediately went to the Lord, he knew that God was the only source for his answers.  I remember as a young minister that I think I had to rely on God in a great deal of areas because there was a lot of new territory I was crossing into, granted I made my share of mistakes and still do, but as leaders earn more experience I think there is a tendency to rely more on yourself than on God as you did perhaps before.  We must always remember to rely on God for everything, big and small.

God responded to their need by giving them the quail in the evening and the Manna (heavenly bread) in the morning.  He gave them specific instructions on what to do to collect it and how much to collect each day. (Exodus 16:4-5, 14-19)   There is another lesson here that you can also pull from and remind people that God is a God of details and we need to be a people of details, obedience is important to God to the very smallest detail.  When you give instructions to those that are following you, they will not always be followed just like you asked them to be. (Exodus 16:20)  No matter how clear you make the instructions.  There will always be those who think they know of a better plan or way than what you have laid out before the people, while this may or may not be true, they still need to follow the lead of God’s chosen person unless it involves something unbiblical or unethical.  That’s why God put them in the place of leadership.

Also remember that people are slow learners sometimes, we may see the same pattern repeated over and over until the learning curve is met.  If you want Biblical proof, just look at the next chapter, Exodus 17, After the people complained about having no food, they then complained about not having any water to drink and began grumbling again, so soon after the Lord took care of their need with food.  (See Exodus 17:3)  So just keep that in mind that there will always be those who will grumble and who will complain and even those who will not follow the instructions given and cause trouble for themselves and others around them.

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Posted by John Weldon

Satan as a Terrorist, Even A Sucide Bomber

January 31, 2010

I heard  a good line today in church.  The pastor said to think of Satan as a terrorist.   In the day and time when we are under attack from Islāmic extremists we might better look at Satan in a similar way.  In the battle between good and evil, Satan is the one who leads the forces of darkness against God and all those who claim the name of Christ.  If you know your basic Bible, you know that Satan has only a limited time left before his ending chapter is finished and the book is closed.  However that doesn’t stop him from trying to cause as much damage to the Christians and the Army of God before his time is up.  I would call him a suicide bomber because he will one day have an end to all his fun made up of destruction, heartache, and pain when he is placed into the lake of fire at the end of time as it is spoken about in the book of Revelation.

Just as a terrorist can not stand for the ideals and beliefs of America and those who are not like-minded, so Satan does not like it when we take a stance for the Gospel or live our faith in a way that is infectious, in a good way,  to others.  I think many people view Satan as just the care-taker of Hell, they picture him like the cartoon character with a tail, red skin, and holding a pitch-fork.  This simply is not correct at all according to the Bible.   In a recent poll, given by Barna research (see www.barna.org) only about 40% of Christians believe that Satan is an actual real person and not just a representation of all that is evil.

The truth according to the Bible is that He is real, the Bible talks about him in both the new and old testament, even Jesus himself talked and dealt with Satan.    Satan is not bound to stay in the confines of hell.  The Devil is alive and well roaming through the earth causing as much havoc as he can trying to take advantage of poor unsuspecting Christians and to cause them to stumble in their walk with the Lord.  1 Peter 5:8 says – “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  

The last chapter in the book of Ephesians (Eph 6:11-20) talks about the Spiritual warfare that we experience as Christians.  Satan is the real enemy, we all need that reminder.  Sometimes we can think that our parents, friends, family members, and others are the enemy, but they are not, Satan is the real enemy.   There are those times when Christians who are not being feed properly with the word of God and who are not in a close relationship with God can be used by the Satan to cause strife, destruction, or hurt.    There are really only 2 sides  according to the Bible, you are either on the Lord side or you are on the enemy’s side.  There is no middle ground no matter how you look at it.  In 2 Timothy Paul encourages Timothy to be a good soldier for Christ Jesus and not to involve himself in civilian affairs, but to stay focused on the Lord and his job as a soldier for Christ. 

John 10:10 one of my favorite verses says “The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  Since there are only two sides, whose side are you on?  God’s or Satan’s?   You say you are on the Lord’s side, well what kind of soldier are you?  Are you a good soldier or would you be found AWOL (Absent without  Leave) when the Lord comes back.  We all need to be reminded from time to time  who the real enemy is and we strive to be the best soldiers for Christ that we can be.

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Posted by John Weldon

Leaders Lead

January 31, 2010

As I read through the chapters in Exodus I got to the part where Moses had lead the people to the Red Sea and they were about to be met by the Egyptian army when the pharaoh had realized that he should have not let them go.  (Chapter 14)  The thought that came to mind in the way of leadership was this.  Anytime you take a position on leadership, you can expect for not everyone to understand your decisions or to be happy about the way you do things.  They question your decisions, your actions, and your motives.  

The Israelites panicked and started grumbling to Moses.  They asked him “Were there not any graves in Egypt that we could have been buried in, we have to come out here and die in the dessert?”  (Ex 14:11-12)  This is the first of many times that the Israelites complain and rebel against the plans that God has for them.  This time, God didn’t allow them to complain to long.  He quickly told Moses to stretch out his arms and let the people cross the red sea on dry land.

So as a leader, what should you do if you find yourself face to face with the grumblings and complaints of those you are trying to lead?  Here are a few points from the scripture.

  1. Moses answered the people’s complaints and questions.  He didn’t ignore them and say, you silly little people, I’m the leader, now just hush and follow me.  The first thing Moses said was to not be afraid.  Sometimes we all need that reminder as we step into new territory in our faith.  Next he reminded the people that God was in control even when things didn’t seem like it or look hopeful.
  2. Moses listened to God and took action.  When God sets you as a leader in anyway you have to remember that you must follow through with the plans you have.  If you stop and deal with the complainers and grumblers you will still be there weeks later trying to fix everything.  Sometimes the best way to stop the negative talk is to take action and let the results speak for themselves.

 I love Exodus 14:14, a friend gave it to me as a encouragement a few months ago, and I was reminded of it a few weeks ago in a sermon and again tonight as I read the chapter.

 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. – Exodus 14:14

 When you know that God has called you into a direction and called you to a place of leadership, you can rest assure that He will help you work through and complete the task.  If God has called you to lead a class, lead a position in a ministry, or even a leadership position in a secular area, you know that He will be with you, just like He was with Moses in the Pillar of fire and of cloud leading them through the dessert.

Being new in a leadership position you have to earn the respect of the people you are leading.  Just because you have the title, doesn’t mean you have earned it yet.  That respect relationship takes time and a shared experience with those you lead.  The last verse in chapter 14 sums up the results of Moses’ first test as a leader, see it below.

 And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.  – Exodus 14:31

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Posted by John Weldon

Intolerance, a good thing?

January 30, 2010

"You're Intolerant!"

With all the latest current events between the Senate race with Scott Brown, the political partisanship between the left and the right and the recent controversy over the Tim Tebow Pro-Life commercial airing during the Superbowl.  The word “intolerance” has come to mind more than once over the last week.  Most of the time it is meant to hurt someone who believes differently (than they do) on an issue or conviction. 

Anytime I hear the word intolerance I think about a shirt that I have seen produced by Josh McDowell, a Christian apologist.  On the front it said “Intolerance is Great” and on the back it had a list of famous people and what they were intolerant of.  I can only remember a few of the names.  Mother Teresa was intolerant of Poverty, Gandhi  was intolerant of hungry, Martin Luther King Jr was intolerant of racism, and at the end it said Jesus was intolerant of sin.    Most people view intolerance as a bad thing, but as you can see that is not always the case. 

So next time someone calls you intolerant be sure to thank them and then you know you have stuck to your beliefs and don’t flip-flopped in your convictions and beliefs.  I’m trying to keep these blogs shorter and easy to read, so feel free to add your comments and what you are intolerant of.

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Posted by John Weldon

Tim Tebow On and Off the Field

January 26, 2010

As the end of the college football season came to a close just a few weeks ago.  All remaining college football fans begin to look toward the NFL draft that will take place in late April.  This is the last time they will get to talk college football in relation to the 2009 season.  Personally I go into a NCAAF coma that is only kept alive by the life-support of the occasional blurbs about my home team, the Georgia Bulldogs.

There has been much talk about Tim Tebow and his highly successful years as the Florida Gators quarterback and his next step into the NFL, negative talk that is.  My purpose is not to get into the specifics of the criticism, but only to say that the criticism is over-rated  for the most part in my humble opinion.   I question the source and slant of the criticism from many. Besides the fact of being one of the greatest college football players of all time, Tebow is also known for his strong faith in Jesus Christ.  His faith is mixed into every aspect of his football life such as  interviews and scriptures references on his eye paint.  In reality, Tebow is the same type of person on the field as he is off the field.  He doesn’t change his life to fit around his faith and visa versa.  I can not think of a better role model for young kids and teens to aspire to be.   Tebow works hard to keep his reputation as a Christian with integrity.  In the days where sports celebrities are dropping like flies in drug and steroid use and the recent fall of Tiger Woods in multiple occurences of marital infidelity, Tebow is a breath of fresh air.

Tim Tebow

The die-hard sports fans and critics can say that morals don’t matter on a football team, but that I believe is a lie and a cop-out given as an excuse to not like him because of his faith.  I say that because of two reasons, first, if you were the father of a college or pro athlete would you want your son or daughter to live the life style of Mark Maguire, Barry Bonds, or Tiger Woods?  Successful and rich, yes, but the lifestyle of drama I’m sure you would not wish on your own flesh and blood.  Secondly, the NFL teams that draft these players would rather take a great player who is not known for “off the field antics” over a great player who is known for perhaps getting into trouble from time to time.  These are there assets and they don’t want to have to worry about a player who causes trouble.  Unless you are Jerry Jones and Al Davis, who are known for picking the “bad guys”, but hey, they are in the minority.  Again if I asked you as a parent, would you rather have a son or daughter who are both successful in life, but one of them gets in trouble often, you have to bail them out of jail, constantly keep an eye on them to protect them, which would you choose?  Need I say more?

Yes, Tebow has some issues with his mechanics and perhaps with the NFL system that he hasn’t seen much of at Florida, but just watch come draft day, I will shave my head bald if Tebow is not taken in top 10 of the draft.  Personally, I’m just glad he is no longer a Florida Gator, since I am a Georgia Bulldog fan.  I can now get back to 100% hate for the Florida Gators instead of the 99% I had for them the last 4 years and I will enjoying hearing about his success in the NFL and his walk with Christ.

On a related note, I have also recently heard that Tim Tebow and his mother will have a 30 second commercial played during the Superbowl.  The commercial will have a Pro-life message and share a story from his mother’s past where she was advised by a doctor to terminate a complicated pregnancy.  She didn’t heed the advice and Tim Tebow was born.  The commercial cost 2.5 million and was paid for by several donors and sponsored by the Focus on the Family organization, lead by Dr. James Dobson.  The commercial has come under fire by womens’s groups and they are asking CBS to pull the ad.  The groups have resorted to name calling and denial of free speech to try and get their way.  So far CBS has not taken any action.  You can read more about it here.  http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2010/01/26/womens-groups-want-cbs-to-drop-tim-tebow-super-bowl-ad/

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Posted by John Weldon

Who Me Lord?

January 24, 2010

The next aspect of the story of Moses that I see in the area of leadership is on the leader himself.  With some people who hear the call into leadership can be a very intimidating situation.  Not every one of course, but the humble and least likely of people can often feel inadequate when answering to the call to ministry or to complete a task that God has for them to do.

Moses was no different, the very first thing he did was question God on why God wanted to use him. (Exodus 3)  No doubt, he was thinking about his past and what had transpired with him and the Egyptian he killed.  We can’t let the past hold us hostage into moving forward into where God calls us to go.  Here are a few scriptures, speaking about our past.

  • Isaiah 43:19 – See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
  • Philippians 3:13 – Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

 

Anyone who recognizes the call by God into an endeavor must always remember one thing; If God called you to a task, a position, or place He will make sure you have what it takes to finish what He desires for you to do, even though you may doubt.  God knows what He is doing.

In Exodus chapter 4 it points out several excuses that Moses tried to offer up to God when God kept insisting on His plan. Moses first excuse was “What if they won’t listen to me?”  God took care of his excuse by giving him miracles to do with his staff, his hand, and some water.   God always provides you with the tools you need to be successful for him.  Today’s tools maybe books, programs, or other ministries to share and pull from.

The second excuse was that was not a good speaker and was “I am slow of speech and tongue.”   God gentle reminded Moses, “Who made your mouth?”  We may look at our set of skills and say to God “I can’t teach like that or I can’t work with children like etc….”  God would say to all of us, I don’t care what you can and can’t do like everyone else, I just want you to do what I ask you to do in your own way and with what I gave you in the way of your gifts, talents, and abilities. 

The last excuses Moses gave God was just a simple I quit.  “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”  Moses just couldn’t think of any other good excuses other than he didn’t want to do it.  This was probably the worse thing to say.  The scripture says that God’s anger burned against Moses when he said that.  Telling God “No” is dangerous ground.  If you think about it, when you tell God “no” in a way you are saying “I know better than you God.”  God also had Aaron, Moses’ brother, to come and help speak for him also.  Thank goodness for other godly people around us that will help us when we need it.

I can remember the times when I first got started in ministry and I felt so unprepared and inadequate to do the task God had called me to in youth ministry.  God surrounded me with people who I could talk with and get advice, get encouragement from, and yes, even get a little correction from.  The next time God calls you to a particular ministry position, place, or plan be take confidence in the fact that it is God calling you and not anyone else.  Take captive those thoughts that come from the devil and try to convince you that you are not good enough, smart enough, old enough, too old, or any other thought that he may try to use on you.

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Posted by John Weldon

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