What's Your Issue?

I'm struck by this list of twenty issues that Christian leaders face. It's found in an excellent new book called Gospel Coach: Shepherding Leaders to Glorify God.

1. I'm really just average in my skills.
2. I'm often not sure what I'm supposed to be doing.
3. I have hidden emotional issues, some of which are derived from my relationship with my father and my mother
4. I'm often motivated by self-glory.
5. I'm battling sin constantly (and losing occasionally).
6. I work too much
7. I have an inconsistent spiritual life.
8. People get on my nerves.
9. My marriage is average.
10. I'm not sure if I'm a good dad/mom/husband/wife.
11. I really don't find joy in my job.
12. I'm too young and inexperienced/my best days are behind me.
13. i'm really uncomfortable around unsaved people.
14. I don't have a close friend I can trust.
15. I rely on my position and guilt to get people to do things.
16. I make decisions without prayer or consulting others.
17. I waste my time on trivial matters.
18. I am often more concerned about myself than others.
19. I'm struggling financially.
20. I'm often tempted sexually.

I doubt that many of these issues are unique to pastors. The problem is when pastors feel they have to struggle alone.

Three observations:

• Pastors need to be appropriately open about these struggles. It's time to climb off the pedestal.
• Pastors need the gospel.
• Pastors need community.

Check out Gospel Coach. It looks like a fascinating and helpful book.

Worship Without Evidence

Today is Pentecost Sunday. I'm haunted by these words by Oswald Chambers, which remind me of how much I need the Holy Spirit.

Beware of worshipping Jesus as the Son of God, and professing your faith in Him as the Savior of the world, while you blaspheme Him by the complete evidence in your daily life that He is powerless to do anything in and through you.

I long for evidence in our lives and churches that the Spirit is at work through us. I'm praying that it would be so.

He Cares

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

Some say that the two words "But God" in Ephesians 2 are the best two words in the Bible. I tend to agree, but two words in 1 Peter 5:7 come pretty close.

He cares.

Think about that for a while.

We live in anxious days. I talked to a high school teacher recently. She told me that anxiety is rampant among the students. We're not talking about average levels of anxiety. We're talking about major, life-altering anxiety. Students aren't the only ones. As I look around and within, I see high levels of anxiety almost everywhere I look.

Whatever your level of anxiety, God invites us to cast our anxiety on him. I don't know anyone else offering this. He's best equipped to handle the stuff that we can't. As Charles Simeon said about our anxieties, "None are so small but they shall be regarded, none so great but they shall be alleviated."

The best news of all: he cares.

We don't have to make something of ourselves, because God will look after exalting us when it's the right time. Our job is to stay humble and to keep giving him all the stuff that keeps us awake at night, knowing that he has our best interests at heart.

"God extends his care to the whole creation; but in a more special manner cares for his people" (Charles Simeon).

I don't know what you're going through today. Maybe nothing. Maybe a lot. But keep these two words in mind today: He cares. I know those two words are going to help me shift my anxieties over to him, work to stay humble, and trust that he will work everything out when the time is right.

Freedom to Fail

I've often been struck by a section of one of George Whitefield's sermons:

I can say that I cannot pray without sin — I cannot preach without sin — I can do nothing without sin; and as one expresses it: my repentance needs to be repented of, and my very tears to be washed in the precious blood of my dear Redeemer. Our best duties are as so many splendid sins.

Church planting is like that. I want to say that I'm driven by the desire to establish a work that will bring God glory and to spread his fame, and this would be true. But if I'm honest, I'm also driven by a desire not to fail at something that is tougher than anything I've ever done to this point. I don't want to fall flat on my face and embarrass myself — a very real possibility given the number of church plants that fail!

That's why I was glad to get an email from a friend yesterday that closed with this line:

I'm here for you all no matter what — rain or shine, success or failure.

Man, I needed this. My friend is soaked in the realities of the gospel, and he helped me realize that the gospel gives us freedom to fail. He's committed to me even if I fail, and so is God.

I already knew this, but I need to be reminded often. The gospel gives us the freedom to fail, and our best friends do as well. I'll always be a jumble of mixed motives, but as I continually repent of this I can be sure that it's all okay with God. His love is not conditional upon me making it work. I have the freedom to fail.

Death in the Dust

I love these words from Mike Wittmer:

He took death's best shot, got up off the mat, and floored death with a straight cross. He drug death down with Him into the depths, and when He arose He left death in the dust. Jesus now stands over death and glowers, "Is that all you got?" (The Last Enemy: Preparing to Win the Fight of Your Life)