One thing I’m learning lately is this simple truth: God can use anyone.
All posts in Inspiration
Be Thankful.
About a week ago I tweeted:
It’s pretty self-explanatory and I don’t want to belabor the point, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving I thought I’d take a minute to quickly encourage all of you who currently serve in ministry on a church staff to take a minute to pause and be thankful.
Ministry is tough work. After serving on church teams for over 10 years, I know that being in ministry is some of the most fulfilling and draining work at the same time. Serving on a church leadership team is both an incredible opportunity and sometimes a burden. You can witness all sides of church life: good, bad, and ugly. You can see the influence of “church politics” and wince at how leaders can be swayed by people’s opinions. And, at the same time, you can rejoice over life transformation. You can see the work of God, despite yourself and the behind-the-scenes things that go in church office life. You can see marriages and lives restored, can see hope instilled into hopeless situations and see the redeeming work of Christ at work in people’s lives.
Ministry is a roller-coaster and isn’t for the faint of heart.
I want to encourage you that wherever you may find yourself today… whether riding the highs and experiencing joy where you are serving, or if you are in a hard, low place…. to pause be thankful for the work you are doing. You get the incredible opportunity to be used by God to impact and shape the ministry that happens in your church. You, directly or indirectly, get to touch and impact people’s lives through the work you do. You get to partner with God in His work. What you are doing is an honor, a privilege, and something we all need to be reminded to be thankful for.
Although I’m no longer on a church staff team, I can say without reservation that the 10 years I was on staff at a church were some of the most fulfilling and wonderful seasons of my life. I’m thankful for the opportunity I continue to have to serve churches through my work with Church Solutions Group and the Center for Church Communication, and I’m thankful for the individuals and churches I have been able to serve this last year as I’ve transitioned into parachurch work.
So, to those who are still in the trenches, be encouraged. What you are doing matters. God has you where you are right now doing the work that you are doing for a reason. You are placed where God has you for a divine purpose. Whether you are thriving or barely making it, know that God has placed you where you.
God has great things He wants to do in and through you.
What you do matters.
Where you are matters.
Be thankful for the opportunity you have to be serving the church that you do.
Be thankful for the community of people that God has entrusted to your care.
Be thankful for what you’ve been given… for what you have [and for what you don't have].
Be thankful for the chance to spend your life in service to others and in service to God.
Be thankful for the grace God has afforded you to serve and do what you do… despite yourself, your brokenness and your past.
Be thankful that you can be a part of God’s redeeming work in the life of your community.
Be thankful and know that we are all so thankful for the work you do.
Steve Jobs on Christianity
Like thousands of you out there, I snatched up by copy of Steve Jobs’ biography by Walter Issacson today. I love reading a great biography and cannot wait to read the behind-the-scenes of Steve and his life.
Only a few pages deep into the book, Isaacson shares about Steve’s views on Christianity. His parents raised him going to a Lutheran church but after asking pastor why God would knowingly allow suffering to happen he decided to never return to church.
He told Issacson that he believed religion was at its best when it was emphasized in spiritual experiences rather than received dogma. Steve went on to say…
“The juice goes out of Christianity when it becomes too based on faith rather than on living like Jesus or seeing the world as Jesus saw it.”
What are your thoughts on that statement?
It echoes the words of Gandhi, “I like your Jesus but not your Christians.”
Yes, as believers, we would say faith and works go hand-in-hand, but unfortunately, Steve only saw the faith side of things.
Just something to think about… what if we actually acted Christian? What if our lives and how we lived in this world spoke louder than our words?
Actions speak louder to the world around us.
What is your life speaking?
We’ve got some work to do.
Thanks, Steve
That’s really all there is to say… thanks, Steve.
His words carry even more meaning tonight:
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”
“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
- Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech, June 2005
How has Steve Jobs impacted you? What are your thoughts on his passing? How did he challenge or inspire you?
For me, I appreciate the fact that Steve encouraged us to be weird… to think differently.
