Responsibility

I have been in ministry for over 30 years. Church business meetings over those years and in those churches have been "interesting". I have been in churches where we debated everything! Many of you know what I am talking about. The $200 printer needed to be voted on by the church in business meeting and then needed to be tabled to see if the committee could find something better (read that cheaper).

The congregation where I now serve is on the other end of the spectrum. While we have committees that provide help and oversight and have the necessary checks and balances in our system, our church family gives to the staff so much freedom. They trust that we have done the work to discover the best solution or that we have a reason for the direction in which we are leading.

With all of that trust, though, is great responsibility. When someone trusts you, whether it is a spouse, a child, a friend, or a congregation, it should make you want to justify that trust even more. Now, as I write that, I know there are numerous cases of the exact opposite happening. There are those who have violated that trust and run off unchecked. Increased trust should, however, lead us to run toward His holiness and not away from it. As a staff, we seek to stay faithful to the Lord, to His call, and to the people who put their trust in us.

With trust in your leadership comes great opportunity. Use that for building His kingdom. With trust in your leadership also comes incredible responsibility! Use that for showing His Honor and Glory!

What do I say?

Someone recently asked me, "What do I say to someone who has found out he is dying?" We often find ourselves in situations where someone has experienced a figurative kick in the gut. They have received some sort of bad news or experienced some great disappointment. What do we say to someone who is in the midst of the storm?

In reply to that question, I shared what I usually do and that is admit I don't know why. My prayer with a person who is dealing with a storm is usually something along these lines: I thank You God that You are in control. I admit to You that at this moment I don't understand why this is happening. I don't know why this individual or family is having to go through this situation. But I do know that You are still God. I know that You can do what is for the ultimate best and so I trust it all to You!

Too often, as ministers and as Christ followers, we want to have the answers. We want to give them the steps to get out of this situation. We want to give them a reason for the difficulties or problems they face. Just admit it: we don't know. We know that we live in a sinful world and part of that sinfulness means there is sickness and tragedy in the world and in our lives from time to time. But the truth is most of the time for God's people we just don't have the answer to why. And as a man recently reminded me in the midst of his illness, "That's when your faith kicks in!" That is when we truly experience the Good Portion as we surrender our everything over to Him and rest in His abiding love.