How to tackle a big project

King David was going to die soon, and he knew it.

To make sure the transition was smooth for his son Solomon to assume the throne of Israel, David called the leaders of the nation together and installed Solomon as the next king.  Although David had wanted to build the temple of the Lord, God told him that task was for Solomon to complete.  Instead of sulking that God told him “no” and also knowing he wouldn’t live to see the completion of the temple, David still found a way to invest in the project.  However, David knew Solomon would not be able to complete the work on his own.

Here’s what David had to say to Israel’s leadership about his son and the task at hand:

1 Chronicles 22:17-19
Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon:

“The Lord your God is with you, isn’t He?  And hasn’t He given you rest on every side?  For He has handed the land’s inhabitants over to me, and the land has been subdued before the Lord and His people.

Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God.  Get started building the Lord God’s sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built for the name of the Lord.”

The new king, Solomon, had a monumental task in front of him – to build the temple, which would officially centralize and represent the nation’s relationship with God.  It had to be done well.  It had to be done right.  Solomon couldn’t do it on his own, he would need both support and effort from all the nation’s leaders.

Notice that David was speaking to all the leaders – they were the ones that needed to hear this message.  The leaders needed the reminder that God was with them, even during this time of transition and change.  However, they were not going to be able to accomplish the task in front of them unless they first made a choice:

1 Chronicles 22:19
Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God.

The nation’s leaders couldn’t just treat this as some city-improvement project – this was the most important building they’ve ever contributed to.  The future activities that would take place in the temple building would guide and impact generations of Israelites in the future.  Their involvement was not something to be taken lightly.

But before they could get started with the work, they had to set their minds and hearts on the over-arching goal.  This would have to be a purposeful choice, to view their God-ordained work not just as a task to complete, but instead to have this task come under the ultimate theme of their lives – to seek the Lord your God.  Their God-level perspective would keep them going when their immediate-perspective was bogged down in the issue of the moment.  Knowing their “why” (and knowing that all the other leaders shared that same “why”) would keep them unified not only for the task at hand, but will also keep them unified as they lead the people they are responsible for.

After reading this story, I can’t help but ask: “Where are you leading?  Who are you responsible for?”

Do you ever get stuck in the mundane and forget that the Lord your God is with you?  Remember that, take a deep breath, and then determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God.  Then you’ll be ready to jump back into your God-given task and lead those He has put in your care.

Remember who you are. 
Choose to seek God. 
Go do the work.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

It's been tough lately

One of the great things about Scripture is that it doesn’t whitewash anyone or gloss over any less-than-perfect situations.  Embarrassing and non-flattering moments are included alongside of impressive miracles.  This is one of the evidences of the Bible being supernaturally inspired: given the number of people who contributed to the Scriptures over the 1500 years it took to write, you would really expect that some author – at some point – would try to minimize their mistakes and/or failings. 

But that’s not what we see.  Instead, we find the heroes of the Bible don’t always act like perfect heroes.  We find them lying, cheating, and betraying each other.  We find them doubting God and His goodness.  Sometimes, we even find them saying really stupid things or just wanting to get away from it all.  Here is just a short list of examples (which would be easy to make into a long list):

·       Adam and Eve had the literal perfect life, and lost it because they thought God was holding out on them (Genesis 3).
·       Jacob leveraged his family members’ weakened conditions against them so he could get what he wanted (Genesis 26-27).
·       Jonah flat-out told God “No.” and ran away (Jonah 1).
·       David wasn’t where he was supposed to be, which led him to an affair with someone he wasn’t supposed to be with (2 Samuel 11). 
·       John Mark deserted his fellow missionaries in the middle of the mission trip.  He just up and left them hanging (Acts 13).
·       After the biggest single-day success of his career as God’s prophet, Elijah fell into loneliness and deep depression (1 Kings 18-19).
·       Noah got drunk and passed out, and his kids had to take care of him (Genesis 9).
·       On his watch, Aaron went along with a rebellion against his brother Moses and against God.  He even formed the golden calf “god” himself (Exodus 32).
·       Samuel, a great prophet of Israel, failed completely as a father.  While his sons were in the ministry, they were all corrupt and took bribes.  They used their religious positions for personal gain. (1 Samuel 8).
·       One day, Peter came to the conclusion that he needed a break.  He decided to leave for a while and go fishing (John 21).

Since the Bible doesn’t hide the flaws and failings of the people of God, I don’t think that we should work so hard to project a “perfect Christian” image.  It’s an easy trap to fall into, though.  We tell ourselves I don’t have the time to tell them the full story…or…they have their own issues and shouldn’t have to deal with ours, too…or…I’m embarrassed because I’ve been a Christian too long to be struggling with this thing…or…others would look down on us for getting stuck on this sin…or…<insert your own excuse here>

 When was the last time someone asked you, “How are you doing?”, and you gave an answer other than “I’m good.”?  But we have the insider information on ourselves, don’t we?  We’re fully aware of which parts aren’t “good” and where we’re struggling. 

So, in the interest of openness…I’ll admit that it’s been hard for me lately.  Of all the things you could imagine that I struggle with, your least-likely guess is my frustration…I’m having difficulty putting in the effort to study the Scriptures.  Ironic, right?  The guy who teaches the Bible is having difficulty with wanting to put in the effort to understand the Bible.  This isn’t a “because of COVID” thing either, it’s been a on-again-off-again struggle for a very long while. 

I don’t write this looking for your sympathy.  I’m not asking for a prayer vigil.  I admit this to you because I want you think about how you look at your pastors and teachers.  Just because we write/teach/preach God’s big ideas and partner with God to bring His truths to your attention…this doesn’t mean that we have everything else in our lives perfectly together or that we don’t also struggle in our walk with God.

Sometimes this living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) wants to crawl off the altar, check out of my responsibilities, and just coast for a while.  I get tired of daily taking up my cross (Luke 9:23) where “self” is to be crucified, and honestly, on somedays…I just don’t pick it up.  When talking about this blog, I have readily told people that I do not write because I am some super-spiritual, strong-Christian type…instead, I believe that God has me write this blog because I am too weak to not have this teaching responsibility.  Part of what keeps me in the Word is knowing I’m accountable to you all on a weekly basis – whether I feel like reading God’s Word or not.  If I wasn’t doing this ministry work, I’m not sure how much (or how little) time I would spend in the Scriptures.  And without God’s voice being intentionally and regularly added to my life, I am unable to withstand the constant barrage of the world’s messaging, distractions, and lies.  This teaching work God has given me is as much for me as it is for you.  While my struggle with studying Scripture is not an “always every day” struggle, it’s definitely there…don’t let a well-written, regularly-delivered email suggest to you otherwise.

So, let’s not hide our struggles from each other.  Let’s not pretend to be the perfect Christian; after all, those don’t exist.  Talk to your spouse about where you are in your walk with God.  Speak with a good friend.  Find a Christian counselor, if need be.  When you think about your pastor or Bible teacher, don’t assume that their walk with God is easier than yours or that they don’t have struggles.  Instead, let’s all take to heart the encouragement given by the author of Hebrews:

Hebrews 12:1-2
…let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us.  Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.  For the joy that lay before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Persevering in whatever ministry God has given us will keep us on track for God’s will in our lives now and eternal rewards in the life to come.  Even when we struggle.  Even when we don’t feel like it.  Even when we admit to not having it all together.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Follow the leader (part 2)

When the Scriptures give us a direction, it’s always best that we pay attention.  If we observe God talking about the same subject more than once…well…then He’s putting down some emphasis that we need to linger on.

Twice in his closing statements and encouragements, the author of Hebrews mentions how the church body should be acting toward our church leaders.  The second one reads as follows:

Hebrews 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

Some days, it’s great to be the leader.  You get to help people understand God and His purpose.  You see the fruit of your efforts paying off as your people mature.  People say ‘thank you’.  Sometimes, they do something to say ‘thank you’.  The sun shines and you can see God moving in the community through the work of those you lead.

Other days…being the leader doesn’t feel all that good.  People who are supposed to care about each other end up selfishly hurting each other.  They want you to fix it.  Maybe they blame you for it happening – or they blame God and you just happen to be a more convenient place to blow up.  You offer a helping hand to the community, and instead of taking it, they reject it…and you.  To the surprise of many, your own family has struggles and issues.  The pressure to be ‘perfect’ is constant.  You are always ‘on call’ – expected to effortlessly represent God and be the calm voice of reason in any situation that happens.

As members of the church body, we need our leaders.  We need them to guide us when we are walking close to God, and we need them to correct us when we are wandering (or running) away from Him.  We look to our leaders for acceptance and love, even when life has gone completely sideways and we feel like a hopeless mess.  Their reliance on God helps us believe that we can trust God, too.

To those who lead a church, in any capacity, God takes their role very seriously.  He expects the leader to maintain His perspective, so that they can keep watch over your souls.  One day, those who lead will give an account of all they taught others about Jesus – through their words and their actions.  Remember how Jesus’ harshest criticisms and biggest frustrations were because of the hypocritical Pharisees?  When it comes time to give an account, God is not going to be any easier on today’s leaders who take a similar, selfish path.

So, let’s be honest – Being a church leader is not an easy job, but the author of Hebrews says there a couple of ways we could make it easier on them.

First, he says to obey your leaders and submit to them.  I will guarantee that your church leadership will not always ‘do church’ exactly they way you want them to.  But before we go to complain, we need to check our motivations and make sure we’re not just advocating for our personal preferences.  There are likely other factors influencing your leaders’ decisions, and if God is leading them – then you don’t want to be fighting against God’s direction for your church.  By all means, we should feel comfortable bringing issues and concerns to our pastor’s attention; however, let’s be very careful and selective in what we find fault with.

Second, he says our interactions with our leaders should help them do their job with joy and not with grief.  A leader who dreads dealing with those he is responsible for is someone who will lead others as little as possible.  Certainly, a hands-off pastor would be unprofitable for you. 

When we obey our leaders and submit to them, we show that we trust them to follow God’s lead.  While that trust is a big responsibility, being trusted by the congregation gives our leaders confidence to do God’s work with joy and profitable to those who follow them.

So how can we support our leaders in their all-important (and sometimes draining) work?  The New Living Translation of Proverbs 11:25 is a good place to start:

Proverbs 11:25
The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

Let’s be refreshing to our leaders when we interact with them.  Don’t bring them the unnecessary burdens of self-centered complaints.  Trust them enough to obey and submit to them.  If you don’t need something at the moment from them, then show/tell your leaders they are appreciated.

Let’s love on them, so that they can do this with joy.

Keep Pressing,
Ken