One thing is true today-- somebody is watching me. I don't mean with sinister motives either. I mean people are watching me as I follow Christ in order to gain encouragement in their own walk with Jesus. Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ" and I've done that my entire Christian life. I've watched the men who follow Christ and I've followed them. I followed them as a man, as a dad, as a friend and as a pastor. I watched what they did and I emulated them. I guess because of that I've always known that people were following me too. I don't know if the men ahead of me felt the weight of that responsibility but I know I have as I thought of those following me. I didn't want to be a stumbling block for others.
Matthew 18:5-7 always challenges me as I think of those who might be following me. "Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!" I have never wanted to be a stumbling block for anyone.
Have you ever thought about how we can be a stumbling block to others? If people respect me and are following me as I follow Christ, how might I trip them up if I'm not careful? Here are three things we might do to cause others to stumble.
Sin - When people are following us, and we choose to reject Christ and embrace sin, we are placing a stumbling block before others. Most all of us know that we are sinners, and even that those we follow are too, but there is something truly disheartening to watch someone we love and respect, someone we follow, choose selfishness and sin over loving God. Your sin will not only affect your relationship with God, it can stumble those who are watching you, looking up to you. When you and I choose the selfishness of sin, especially grievous sin, those behind us may choose to give up in their disappointment.
Unrepentance - We all know that we still sin and deep down we are aware that even our "leaders," those we follow, can fall. We know they can even fall grievously and that in itself can cause others to stumble, but something else that may stumble even more is a heart unwilling to repent. When confronted with sin, if you and I are unwilling to repent and turn back to follow Jesus, those who have been following us may decide that Jesus isn't worth it either. Maybe they didn't stumble over our sin but they stumbled over our unwillingness to repent and turn back. They may choose to give up because we are unwilling to return.
Rejection - John Maxwell once said, "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care." There is a great deal of truth in this. So often people follow us because they feel loved by us, they trust us. If we act unlovingly, if we portray rejection, then we may just be setting a trip hazard before others.
Ultimately all of us are responsible directly to God himself. None of us will be able to excuse our own failures by appealing to a stumbling block someone else put before us. Along with this reality, there is the truth that God's Holy Spirit indwells and empowers us all to walk and not stumble. Yet nonetheless, there is this grave word of caution-- do not be the cause of others tripping.
May God help us walk and even run the race in such a way that those who follow will not stumble over us.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Serving is what we do
Jesus often spoke about humility and servanthood. In Matthew 18 he says;
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Here is that familiar call of Jesus to humility. Greatness in the kingdom of God will always be measured in terms of our servant's heart, our humility of heart. As a leader I've struggled with this; I desire to be a servant at heart because this is what we do. Jesus said, "I've come to serve and not be served." But at the same time, I'm not convinced that my leadership is one and the same with serving. I often hear Christian leaders say that their platform ministry is one and the same with serving others. Even in the secular world we hear politicians called public servants. But serving seems to be something we do personally for others out of our humility. Jesus speaks of receiving a child and nothing is more servant like than caring for a child. Platform ministries are rarely personal and instead of lowering ourselves to serve the least, those ministries often elevate us to positions of great praise. The larger the platform ministry, the greater the praise, power and position that usually follows.
Now I don't mean to imply that leaders can't be servants. Indeed they can be and should be but service isn't seen so much in the platform ministry but in the heart of that leader outside of that large ministry. Does that leader serve the least of these personally? Is their heart of humility seen in how they treat others outside the popular large ministry? Does that leader have time to talk to and encourage the young, the unknown, the one with no power?
Dr. Al Moyler represents the leader who is both powerful and humble. Though I don't know him personally, he is the president of Southern Seminary, prolific author and speaker, but I listen to his daily briefing and on the weekend he takes questions from people. His humility and his desire to serve the least is evident in how he answers their questions. He is kind. He is encouraging. He is never self ingratiating. I believe he'd always have time for the young ones, whether they were the children around him or the young in faith.
I desire to be the best leader I can be. I want to be strong and assertive. I want to be inspiring and challenging. But above all those things I long to be a servant. I want to be humble, a man under authority and one who serves Jesus but a leader who also sees serving Jesus as lived out in serving even children. Jesus told us that to receive the children is to receive him. Never grow to the point that you are too big, too powerful, too important to have time to serve the least of those around us. Personally serving the little ones is what we do.
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Here is that familiar call of Jesus to humility. Greatness in the kingdom of God will always be measured in terms of our servant's heart, our humility of heart. As a leader I've struggled with this; I desire to be a servant at heart because this is what we do. Jesus said, "I've come to serve and not be served." But at the same time, I'm not convinced that my leadership is one and the same with serving. I often hear Christian leaders say that their platform ministry is one and the same with serving others. Even in the secular world we hear politicians called public servants. But serving seems to be something we do personally for others out of our humility. Jesus speaks of receiving a child and nothing is more servant like than caring for a child. Platform ministries are rarely personal and instead of lowering ourselves to serve the least, those ministries often elevate us to positions of great praise. The larger the platform ministry, the greater the praise, power and position that usually follows.
Now I don't mean to imply that leaders can't be servants. Indeed they can be and should be but service isn't seen so much in the platform ministry but in the heart of that leader outside of that large ministry. Does that leader serve the least of these personally? Is their heart of humility seen in how they treat others outside the popular large ministry? Does that leader have time to talk to and encourage the young, the unknown, the one with no power?
Dr. Al Moyler represents the leader who is both powerful and humble. Though I don't know him personally, he is the president of Southern Seminary, prolific author and speaker, but I listen to his daily briefing and on the weekend he takes questions from people. His humility and his desire to serve the least is evident in how he answers their questions. He is kind. He is encouraging. He is never self ingratiating. I believe he'd always have time for the young ones, whether they were the children around him or the young in faith.
I desire to be the best leader I can be. I want to be strong and assertive. I want to be inspiring and challenging. But above all those things I long to be a servant. I want to be humble, a man under authority and one who serves Jesus but a leader who also sees serving Jesus as lived out in serving even children. Jesus told us that to receive the children is to receive him. Never grow to the point that you are too big, too powerful, too important to have time to serve the least of those around us. Personally serving the little ones is what we do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)