Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Dogs and Unconditional Love
Dogs are such great animals. They are the perfect example of unconditional love in action. I have this magnet sticker on my car which says, "Lord make me the person my dog thinks I am." That is so true. My dogs (Max, a Dalmatian, and Tookey, a Boxer/Springer mix) think that I am the most wonderful person in the world. The only things they love more are food and chasing squirrels - "Squirrel!" (If you've seen the movie Up, you get the joke.) That is the right prayer - I want to be the person my dogs think I am. Worthy of unconditional love. Is it impossible? The Bible doesn't say so - Jesus tells us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. Tall order, eh?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Making Hard Decisions In Ministry
Yesterday, I had to make a hard decision to stop doing something that was causing me a great deal of stress. Normally, that would be a no-brainer, right? But amazingly, real Christian women (and men too, probably) have a very well developed guilt response. It ranks right up there with Jewish guilt. And after all, when you think about it, Christianity is a branch of Judaism.
Guilt is a powerful motivator but so is stress coupled with a sense of hopelessness and despair. When one sees that the future holds nothing but more of the same, that guilt motivator can eventually be overcome. And usually there is the proverbial 'straw that broke the camel's back' that acts as catalyst. That is exactly how I managed to escape my situation and overcome the guilt factor which some people mistakenly call "conscientiousness."
Have you noticed that in the church, people can make you feel like you are letting God down if you bail out on a ministry? I believe that if a person is miserable doing something, even if it's for God, that he/she should stop doing it. If we are miserable, we are probably not doing the best job anyway. I think God gives us passion for what He wants us to do and the ability to do it well. Just because something is a good thing to do doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. I believe most of us miss out on what God wants us to do because we get bogged down in what the ministry needs are.
Finding something good to do that we also enjoy will produce much better results than doing something just because the need is there. I can think of all kinds of examples - one in particular would be youth ministry. Unless you have a special love for teenagers and an ability to connect with them, FORGET it. Don't do youth ministry just because they need a youth leader and you just happen to be available. Nursery workers have to enjoy being around babies and not mind the crying and the changing of poopy diapers. If screaming kids sends your blood pressure sky high - stay out of the nursery.
Cell group leaders need to have leadership skills and a good sense of organization, along with the ability to teach the Word of God. If you are disorganized and are shy, it's not impossible to be a successful group leader, but you are probably going to need a miracle to get there. More likely, it's just going to stress you beyond what is fun and you will regret ever volunteering to take the reins of the group.
Challenging is okay. Just because something challenges us doesn't mean it's the wrong thing to do. We are always learning and this is important. We don't want to get into a rut - that becomes it's own brand of hopelessness. It's when the challenge turns into a black hole that you think will never let go. That is when you say - "You know what? I'm outta here."
Jesus said that He came to give us LIFE, and that, more abundantly. If what you are doing is producing death in you...or others, STOP IT!
Guilt is a powerful motivator but so is stress coupled with a sense of hopelessness and despair. When one sees that the future holds nothing but more of the same, that guilt motivator can eventually be overcome. And usually there is the proverbial 'straw that broke the camel's back' that acts as catalyst. That is exactly how I managed to escape my situation and overcome the guilt factor which some people mistakenly call "conscientiousness."
Have you noticed that in the church, people can make you feel like you are letting God down if you bail out on a ministry? I believe that if a person is miserable doing something, even if it's for God, that he/she should stop doing it. If we are miserable, we are probably not doing the best job anyway. I think God gives us passion for what He wants us to do and the ability to do it well. Just because something is a good thing to do doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. I believe most of us miss out on what God wants us to do because we get bogged down in what the ministry needs are.
Finding something good to do that we also enjoy will produce much better results than doing something just because the need is there. I can think of all kinds of examples - one in particular would be youth ministry. Unless you have a special love for teenagers and an ability to connect with them, FORGET it. Don't do youth ministry just because they need a youth leader and you just happen to be available. Nursery workers have to enjoy being around babies and not mind the crying and the changing of poopy diapers. If screaming kids sends your blood pressure sky high - stay out of the nursery.
Cell group leaders need to have leadership skills and a good sense of organization, along with the ability to teach the Word of God. If you are disorganized and are shy, it's not impossible to be a successful group leader, but you are probably going to need a miracle to get there. More likely, it's just going to stress you beyond what is fun and you will regret ever volunteering to take the reins of the group.
Challenging is okay. Just because something challenges us doesn't mean it's the wrong thing to do. We are always learning and this is important. We don't want to get into a rut - that becomes it's own brand of hopelessness. It's when the challenge turns into a black hole that you think will never let go. That is when you say - "You know what? I'm outta here."
Jesus said that He came to give us LIFE, and that, more abundantly. If what you are doing is producing death in you...or others, STOP IT!
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