Let’s face it. It’s a lot easier doing ministry when our only goal is to keep people happy.
Doing what’s best for others makes life and ministry messy. We have to be willing to rock the boat. We have to be willing to watch people who don’t have a “1 Corinthians 10:33” mindset leave the church.
When I stop doing what’s best for me and focus on what’s best for others, though, that’s when real life-change happens. It’s worth making “happy Christians” mad so that many may be saved.
People who walk through the doors of our church every Sunday may look okay on the outside, but many are dealing with some tough stuff on the inside. Addictions. Marriages collapsing. Kids heading in a wrong direction. Medical challenges. Financial crisis. Lack of purpose.
Let me challenge you with these thoughts:
When you teach on “felt needs,” you aren’t watering down the message. You are helping people find forgiveness and healing and a new direction for their lives. It’s easy to preach through the Bible. It’s much harder to preach to hurting people who need to understand how the Bible applies to their lives.
When the person sitting beside you is dealing with a marriage crisis that’s leading to a crisis of faith, it makes your preferences of music and volume seem pretty insignificant.
When you neglect the mission field in your neighborhood because of your sole desire to help people across the ocean, I wonder if you’re just choosing the path of least resistance.
When you choose to focus on your theological differences at the expense of helping people find healing and hope, could it be that you haven’t spent enough time living out your faith because you’re too busy defending your faith?
I’ve looked in people’s eyes and heard many stories. They are the real stories of real people experiencing real pain. Let’s not forget why we do what we do.
This article is an excerpt from Stuck in a Funk?: How to Get Your Church Moving Forward by Tony Morgan. For his daily insights on leadership and strategy, visit TonyMorganLive.com.