People can be real difficult sometimes. They can really offend us and tick us off. They never seem to do what we want them to do. They are stubborn and always so selfish. They don't listen and are so opinionated. They don't care. They don't know what they are talking about. They are misguided and ill-informed. They quickly pass judgment. They are rude. They get angry. They are so superficial. All they think about is themselves. They are so easily offended. They like to complain a lot.
Have you ever had these feelings towards other people? If we are honest with ourselves, we would probably say yes.
I once heard a joke that ministry would be really great if it was not for all the people. But people is what it is all about. God has called us to unconditionally love people - even when they don't love us back, even when we don't agree with us, even when they would seek to undermine us or even hurt us.
Think about how God loves people. There are thousands of reasons why God should have given up on us long time ago. But he continues to love us. Although people ignore him, reject him, disobey him, curse his name, blaspheme him, and even crucify him - he still continues to love them with a bigger love than we can even imagine. God has a big heart for the people of the world and the people of our community. John 3:16 says, "God so love the world." Did you hear that? "He so love the world, that he gave his only Son."
In short, God loves all (difficult) people. He calls us to do the same. Jesus says, the greatest commandment is to love God, but the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-38). You cannot love God without loving people.
Yes, it is a hard job to love people. Love is not convenient. It can be messy. People have a lot of problems in their lives. It would be a lot easier to just love ourselves and not have to deal with with their broken marriages, financial debt, loneliness, fits of anger, up-side-down priorities, opposing political views, failing health, unruly kids, selfishness, etc. But their is nothing more worthwhile and fulfilling we will ever do than to love our neighbor and the people of our community.
Unfortunately, many churches and Christians love their traditions and themselves more than the people of their community. We easily love those who love us back or have something to give us in return. But Jesus says, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than the others? Do not even the pagans do that?" Matthew 5:46-47
I pray Lord of Life will be a church that loves God and the people of our community more than we love ourselves or our traditions. I pray that we would love our community as God loves our community and that we could continue to develop a heart for the people around us.
We (the church) have something that no one else in our community can offer to our community. The government can't offer it. Jewel can't offer it. Geneva Commons can't offer it. The local park can't offer it. Delnor Hospital can't offer it. Our community needs Jesus and we are the ones who have Jesus to share.
I pray that when we come to Lord of Life we would come not to be served, but to serve. That our main objective would not be to hear our favorite song sung this morning, not to hear a knock out sermon by Pastor Phil, not to catch up with our friends. Those things are all good. But I pray that our main motivation would be to serve our community by taking part in helping the church to fulfill its mission of sharing Jesus with our community.
Sometimes we talk about serving the church, but it is not really the church that we are serving. It is our community and our world that we are serving through our church.
Readings for next week:
| 07 | Song of Solomon 5:1-8:14 2 Corinthians 9:1-15 Psalm 51:1-19 Proverbs 22:24-25 | 08 | Isaiah 1:1-2:22 2 Corinthians 10:1-18 Psalm 52:1-9 Proverbs 22:26-27 | |
| 09 | Isaiah 3:1-5:30 2 Corinthians 11:1-15 Psalm 53:1-6 Proverbs 22:28-29 | 10 | Isaiah 6:1-7:25 2 Corinthians 11:16-33 Psalm 54:1-7 Proverbs 23:1-3 | |
| 11 | Isaiah 8:1-9:21 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Psalm 55:1-23 Proverbs 23:4-5 | 12 | Isaiah 10:1-11:16 2 Corinthians 12;11-21 Psalm 56:1-13 Proverbs 23:6-8 | |
| 13 | Isaiah 12:1-14:32 2 Corinthians 13:1-13 Psalm 57:1-11 Proverbs 23:9-11 |
1 comment:
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.
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...#1 - A Leader Should Never Attack A Problem Alone
If a leader tries to attack a problem all by themselves…then they aren’t leading anyone!
One of the best resources a leader has is the team that God places around him. I can’t imagine going after a problem without the advice of the godly men and women God has placed around me!
#2 - A Leader Should Never Assume The Worse In People.
One of my goals as a leader is to help people become all that they can be through Christ…and I cannot do that if I am always thinking negative things about them…or assuming they are trying to undermine me in some way. Do leaders get burned because they believe in people? YEP! I have been…so have you. BUT we can’t give up on people because of a few negative experiences.
One of the verses I believe a leader needs to memorize and pray for those who serve with them is Philippians 4:8. One of the places the enemy loves to attack the most is among the leadership of a church…and the battle always begins in the mind. So…pray for the people you serve with…and don’t allow the enemy to hijack your mind!
#3 - A Leader Should Never Fall In Love With “The Way Things Are.”
Leaders do not lay awake at night and dream about how to maintain the status quo, they have a thankful attitude in regards to what God has done…and an expectant attitude in regards to what else they feel He wants to do! I’ve got to be honest here…it really bothers me when “leaders” fall in love with systems and structures simply because of the comfortably factor that is associated with the “known!” However, it is in the unknown that God has done His best work in me, stretching and developing me in ways that I could never have experienced if I had been stuck in “cruise control.”
...and so on.
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