It’s a widely circulated idea that as a leader you should “only do what only you can do”. In other words, focus on your calling and ignore other (potentially good) opportunities.
If lived out as a general rule, this idea has merit. It creates and maintains focus in our highest priorities, those pertaining to our calling.
Saying “no” to most things helps you say “yes” to the things you were made for.
But if adhered to rigidly, this idea becomes unbiblical quickly. It prevents me from serving in the moment. It prevents me from participating in Divine opportunities. It prevents me from following the Holy Spirit’s direction.
Sometimes I’m the “only” one God has asked, even though there are others who are more qualified.
And that qualifies me. It’s my opportunity.
There is a balance to find here.
Jesus made breakfast for the disciples on the beach. Clearly, others would have been qualified to start the fire. He took the opportunity to serve. (John 21:9).
I should do what only I can do (my calling) , and many times a little more (my opportunities).
Senate Chaplain Barry Black opened Day 6 of the Senate Impeachment Trial of President Donald Trump with this prayer:
LET US PRAY. ETERNAL GOD, THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. UNITE OUR SENATORS IN THEIR STRIVING TO DO YOUR WILL. LORD, YOU HAVE BEEN OUR HELP IN AGES PAST. YOU ARE OUR HOPE FOR THE YEARS TO COME. WE TRUST THE POWER OF YOUR PREVAILING PROVIDENCE TO BREAK THIS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL TO THE CONCLUSION YOU DESIRE. LORD, WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE NOT OUR THOUGHTS. AND YOUR WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS. FOR AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO ARE YOUR THOUGHTS HIGHER THAN OUR THOUGHTS. AND YOUR WAYS HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS. LORD, WE LOVE YOU. EMPOWER OUR SENATORS, RENEW THEIR STRENGTH. WE PRAY IN YOUR DEPENDABLE NAME, AMEN.
In this prayer Chaplain Black uses Biblical language directly from John 14:6, Isaiah 55:8-9, Isaiah 40:31, in addition to quoting a traditional Christian hymn from Isaac Watts, who drew from Psalm 90 for the lyrics. Clearly, a prayer to the God of the Bible was offered in Congress.
My immediate response upon listening to Chaplain Black’s prayer above was one of elation. What a wonderful moment where our country officially, publicly acknowledged the God of the Bible and called for His help in a national arena!
My next response was confusion. How is this possible? How could the same Senators, many of whom repeatedly fight against the expression of Christianity and the Bible in public places, allow such a prayer to happen?
How can prayer be allowed in Congress and not in public schools? It seems incongruous.
The answer, legally, comes from the Supreme Court. In a landmark ruling “Marsh vs Chambers” the Court ruled that “legislative prayer” is a different form and function that other public prayer, serving a more civic duty than a religious one. The Court held that legislative prayer was part of the “fabric of society” and thus admissible.
However, I am still confused.
If it can be ruled by the Supreme Court of the United States that Congressional prayer is acceptable due to its historical role in American society, why cannot the same argument be made for public prayer of all types?
I would call the situation astounding.
Regardless, I think we as believers can take great solace in the fact that there is still a remnant of Truth being proclaimed from the highest national platform, and that Truth expanding even further into the public sphere is not outside the realm of possibility. Be encouraged!
Vision is the ability to see what could be rather than what is.
Most leaders strive to have a clear vision. But where does vision come from? What are the possible sources? Our own heart can produce ideas and dreams, pictures of the future. Other people can give us thoughts and possibilities to contemplate. But if we listen to only ourselves, or to the wrong people, our vision can come from the wrong place and drive us in the wrong direction.
To guard against this danger, our vision source must be God Himself. Specifically, God gives us vision and direction for our life through the Bible:
Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts.
Psalm 119:97-100
When God through His Word is your counselor, you are wiser than any of the enemies that are out to destroy you: Satan, sin, evil people with wicked intentions. You are wiser! When God’s Word is with you – meaning you have memorized it – you have the greatest counselor the world has ever known! Your vision will be clear and right!
When you are meditating on it – turning in over in your heart and mind all day – God’s Word makes you wiser than the intelligent, smartest people in the room – the people that should be teaching you! You may be the one with the most dynamic vision, if you are the one meditating faithfully on God’s Word.
And last, when you apply it, God’s Word helps you understand more than those who are older than you (the “ancients”). Yes, we are called to respect our elders, but age does not always equate to being right. Test every advice and counsel against Scripture and be assured of clear vision.
Wisdom and understanding – vision – comes from memorizing, meditating on, and applying God’s Word.
We heard there was ash falling in Manila. As I stepped out onto the porch of our house I was immediately overwhelmed by what I liken to “black snow” falling everywhere. It was covering up the white bannisters, covering my patio umbrella, getting in my hair. Volcanic ash is not really ash per se, it is technically rock and glass – like a course ground coffee all over….well, everything. (I do feel Starbucks may have missed some sort of marketing opportunity here).
My next thought was “surely this is not good to breathe”, and I told my wife we should run to the store and buy some face masks. Upon arriving at the mall, we saw that many others had the same idea, and we were able to buy some of the last remaining masks in the store. Filtering masks are now a hot commodity in Manila, and I’ve learned what N95 means (look it up).
In processing all of these events,I am struck with two thoughts: how small we are and how great God is.
Left to our own devices, despite all of our technology as mankind, we have no way to stop this volcano should it decide to do something worse. No patch, no cap, no military grade stopper that can hold it back. Nothing to stop the earthquakes happening. And, left to my own self, the best thing I could do for my family was a dollar-store face mask.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
Psalm 8:3
Is there any thing about us that should cause God to be mindful of us? According to David in the Psalm above – no, not really. This volcano reminds me of that. ‘I got nothin’. It is humbling.
Yet God cares for me immensely! David is awestruck by the fact that the same God who created that volcano is the one Who, as he says, “visits” with us. He loves us so, that he visits with us! He came to be with us through His Son, and He is with us through His Spirit and His Word. He calls us His children!
I am reminded that God did not love me because of how great I am, but because of how great He is.
My brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4
In these opening verses, James addresses the issue of trials that come from outside. He is talking about trials that we “fall into” – meaning they are often unexpected things that we encounter. Literally, the unforeseen events of life that we do not plan for or wish to happen. The picture is a little bit like falling when you step into a hole or stumble over something in the way – no one plans to do that!
The Bible here says “various trials”, meaning this can include many different things. It may include physical trials, financial difficulties, relationship issues, gossip, broken hearts. It can include danger or tragedies that happen. I can’t list them all here, but you get the idea.
Most of the time for us, trials naturally produce a negative attitude – a complaining attitude. Someone does something negative to me and my first thought is “why did You let that happen Lord?”.
But God here describes a very different response. He says we should have joy when we face a new trial. Joy! Not only joy, but God says to count it (or consider or have the opinion about) “all joy”. It means not a little joy mixed with some complaining thrown in on the side. No – all we should have is joy in a trial!
Does that sound kind of ridiculous to anyone? I mean, really God? My child gets sick and I am supposed to be joyful in that situation? I lose my job and I am supposed to have joy in that time in my life? Someone hurts me deeply by something said or done and I am supposed to react with overflowing joy? Really?
The answer is, yes, really. But how? How can we do this as believers? The answer is given as the verse continues….knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience
To know something means to understand it.
As Christians, we must understand that God has a bigger plan for us than what is happening in the moment.
In fact, we must remember that God is doing something good for us in and through that trial.
Trials in our life are really a test that God brings into our life to grow our faith, purify our faith, and mature our faith. Trials have a purpose. Patience makes us “perfect and complete” – exactly what God wants us to be!
A mature faith is a patient faith – a faith that trusts in God no matter what.
What God wants in my life is for me to believe Him no matter the situation. And He brings trials into my life to teach me to have patience and trust Him.
You must learn to see the trials in your life through a biblical lens. These difficulties in your life are not accidents that God is not aware of! God has allowed them to refine you and shape you and sanctify you!
This knowledge is the key to having joy in a trial.
We are rapidly moving away from a literary society to a visual society. Globally, we would rather watch something than read something. The death of newspapers. The rise of Youtube.
What does this mean for the written Word of God? Well, there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that there is much healthy discussion on visualization in the church these days. Artists like Makoto Fujimura have written extensively on the subject of visual theology. Visual theology, he says, “happens, when we are engaged with scriptures, with fulness of our imaginations”. I agree. It is a good thing when our minds are creatively engaged with Scripture in such a way that they come to life for us.
Indeed, for centuries Christians have portrayed biblical narratives in creative visual ways (think Medieval stained glass to 1960s flannel graph). Kids like to build Bible scenes out of LEGOS. You get the point. This supplementation of the Bible is good, healthy, and God honoring.
The bad news is that as many people are less and less interested in reading, they are less interested in reading the Bible.
They are more drawn to the latest instagram photo with some overlayed words from a Christian pop song that may or may not be theologically correct.
God has given His Word in literary form precisely to engage with our hearts and minds in that way. Why? I don’t know – but that’s what He chose to do.
Are we so naive to think that the god of this world is not using the expanding availability of visual stimulation to influence us away from God’s written Word? We must find balance in this, our visual world, and as believers hold on to the written Word as our primary influence.
Probably weekly we ask a friend “did you see that video?”
What we should be asking is “have you read that passage?”
Whenever you lead people, those people will inspire you with their dedication. They will also frustrate you with their failures. Both of these realities are part of the human experience.
Jesus must have been elated and frustrated with His disciples, sometimes in the same day. Sometimes they messed up so bad it was unbelievable.
In that moment, the leader has a choice.
When someone you are leading frustrates you, you have two choices: remove them from the problem or coach them into solving the problem.
The former is what would feel good, even right in the moment. The latter is the selfless, Christ like choice that takes the long-view.
Help your people get better, and in the end everyone wins. Coach them, and they will rise to the next level. Hopefully, someone is doing the same for you.
Somewhere along the line, leaders (all leaders) fall into the trap of thinking that we must have all the answers to all the questions to validate our leadership. It’s a trap because that’s not the true value point of leadership.
Leadership is not about having all the answers. It’s about leading people to answer the right questions.
Leadership is not about being correct. It’s about being the first to go. Leaders don’t always know the next step. They do know the final destination.
Leaders don’t have all the answers. They gather people toward a common vision.
Stop being paralyzed by trying to be smarter than everyone else. Focus your energy on leading others forward in the vision. You’ll find the answers together along the way. That’s leading.
What happened in Nineveh as Jonah preached was something of, well, biblical proportions. The people repented and turned back to God. Not just a few of the people. Not just a majority count. The entire city! Can you imagine that? Some theologians have called this the greatest revival in history. An entire city, a wicked, evil, violent, sinful city, repented and turned back to following the true God!
God had an effective plan for Jonah to enact. And God’s will for your life is effective as well!
Never doubt God’s ability to impact a whole city with truth! And never doubt God’s ability to use your ministry to do it! God called Jonah to the city of Nineveh so that He could show those people His mercy. God wanted the people of Nineveh to repent. God knew that if Jonah would just go, that those people in Nineveh, despite appearances, were ready to trust Him.
What could God do through YOU? Where is your city? What has God prepared for you already?
Do you believe that God could do something great through you? Is God calling you to do something great? If God has laid a desire on your heart, that may be a good indication that He has already prepared the harvest ahead of you.
Charles Blondin was a French acrobat and tight-rope walker. His most famous stunt was walking across Niagara Falls in America. One time he pushed a wheelbarrow across. Once he carried a person on his back. After carrying a person across successfully, he asked another man in the crowd, “do you believe I could do that with you?”. “ Of course”, said the man. “Well then come on, I will carry you across”. “No way! Never!”, said the spectator.
The spectator said that he believed, but his belief did not lead him to action. What does God want to do through you? Do you really believe that He can? Do you believe that God’s calling is effectual? God prepares people to receive His gospel.
If God has called you to be a pastor, then those people are just waiting for you! If God has called you to be a missionary, then those people are just waiting for you! If God has called you into any area of service, He has called you to effectiveness.
God’s call on your life is effective. His call is always effective.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you. Jonah 3:1
After Jonah repents of his decision to run away and turns back to God, the same specific call comes to Jonah for the second time: to go to Nineveh and preach.
God’s call on your life is unchanging as well.
If God has called you to serve Him, He will not stop calling you. He will not remove the call. He will not change His mind. He made you for a purpose. He will not be satisfied until you are fulfilling it. And by the way, neither will you! I absolutely knew when God was calling me into the ministry, that I would not be fulfilled doing anything else. Jonah thought that he could run away from God’s call and the call would stop. But that’s not how God works.
When I was around fourteen years old, during our church youth camp, I committed my life to serving God however He chose to use me. But (I hate to admit this), honestly I forgot about that commitment. If you had mentioned it to me in the ensuing high school years, I would have definitely remembered my commitment. But no one mentioned it, and I had put it far from my thoughts. However, God did not forget. I’m amazed at how patient He was with me for many years! And God in His grace continued to call me.
Some of you reading this (yes, you) know that God has called to serve Him. If you know that, but you’ve never acted on it, step out in faith and begin to pursue God’s calling in your life. If you are already serving God in ministry, are you confident in what He is calling you to do? Do you hear the specific call of God?
What ministry is He leading you to develop in your church? What desire has He placed in your heart?
Our God does not change, and His purposes do not change, and His call does not change. If God has called you, He has plans to use you! Don’t run from God’s call; embrace it!
Now, a caveat. God’s call is unchanging, it’s true. I believe you can see through the volume of Scripture that if God calls a person into vocational service as a priest, prophet, preacher, missionary, etc that His call is permanent, unchanging, and for a lifetime. There’s no example of God’s servants retiring and moving to the beach. Once you are in, you are in for life. If God calls you into full time ministry, He wants you in full time ministry. God’s separation of a person to full time ministry is an enduring separation.
But (and this is worth noting) God may adjust the mode of the separation over a person’s life. For example, a missionary may leave the field to plant a church in his home country. Then he may later return to the field (or not). A pastor may know that it is time to move on from his current pastorate, not in search of money or ease, but as a response to God’s (new) specific calling.
This reasoning also applies to lay leadership in the church. God may move you from nursery worker to high school Sunday school teacher, back to children’s ministry volunteer, etc. God has called every believer to be a servant – vocational or not – and when you finish one area of service – you aren’t finished!
If God has moved you around in your ministry life, don’t be dismayed. In fact, you’ve receive a double (or triple, or quadruple) blessing of God’s specific calling. God’s separation of you to His ministry has not changed, but like a general moving troops around in battle, God positions His enlisted servants in specific places at specific times.
Be willing to listen to God’s continuing specific, unchanging call in your life!
