We are in the middle of a family series and I was talking yesterday about marriage and specifically the need to commit ourselves to making marriage work. My co-pastor Chad and his wife sang while Cheryl and I danced. It was a visual picture of the leadership of the church admitting that marriage is tough, but our commitment to make it work is what can make a marriage strong.
At that point, perhaps more than any other time, they realized with everything in them that This WAS Jesus. Did they understand Him completely? NO. Would they question Him again? YES. Would there be other storms? Of course!
For this one moment in time, however, nothing else in all the world mattered.
I always find that verse interesting. These were the disciples. These guys had left everything to follow Him. Jesus gave them authority to cast out demons. I don’t have that authority. These guys had a front row seat to all the best of Jesus’ teachings. Some of them wrote books of the Bible.
Jesus had a way of building a relationship with sinners, without condemning them, giving them an example of holiness, but fully convincing them that He loved and cared for them as individuals. He is the guy I want to follow as my example.
Consider this question: What if your biggest problems are really just an easy fix for Him, but you have never trusted Him enough to work His will? Sometimes we underestimate His power and His love. Sometimes He has the solution, but we are too busy trying to find it without Him that we never get to His solution for us. James wrote in the Bible, “You don’t have because you don’t ask…”. Could that be your problem today?
The question for me at this stage of my life is not why the storms come, but how am I going to allow God to use them to make me into who He wants me to be? Are you asking that question?
If done well, I believe relationship-based ministry has a better potential to enhance real life change. I realize my program-based ministry friends would say that their programs have the same intent as our relationship-based ministry and I agree. I also realize our relationship-based ministry relies on a certain amount of programs to administer relationship development, but the major difference is the shift in primary focus from developing and managing programs to developing and encouraging relationships.
It does not take a very bright person to figure out they would be better off with Jesus’ way than their own. I have often said that if you get better at something than Jesus is I’ll follow you. Even an unbeliever should know that Jesus’ way is best.
I am especially bummed by some of the comments and views I am reading on other posts about this issue. Some people have decided that Pastor Lamb’s situation provides an opportunity to bash him. (For an example, read the comments on Monday Morning Insight’s post about this issue.) While this is well meaning for the most part, I frankly feel that when a situation like this occurs and gets such public attention that it provides opportunities we did not previously have to do something positive for the Kingdom.
Several wrote that a young leader should “leave his ego at home” or something similar. I agree with that too, but I think the issue here is more of the motivation of a person’s heart, not in their objective. There is nothing is wrong with a person wanting to grow in their leadership and influence, provided their motivation is for good and God’s glory, not their own. I do not think there is anything wrong with a young leader desiring to improve his or her skills as a leader or in their desire to become the best leader he or she can be. In fact, I would encourage it. We approve of this ideology in other fields, such as the area of sports, so why not in the area of leadership?
