Have you ever seen two pastors who are equally gifted and talented. Two pastors who love Christ and his church just as much as the other. Two pastors who have devoted there lives to God’s work and yet have found themselves with very different levels of success. One church is thriving while the other struggles to pay the bills much less impact people. I have and for the longest time those stories have scared me to death.
The reason it scares me so much is because I have a need to succeed. I am generally not content with just being obedient. I have to be successfully obedient. So when I hear stories like the one above I am scared to death I won’t be successful in the work. When I start thinking like this is when I am in danger of sabotaging what I and what God desires to happen. This is the point when a pastor gets responsibility confused and stops being a sower and tries to take on the role of the grower.
I have done this myself many times. I take the reigns and tell God that I will take it from here. Maybe it’s not that obvious but that is what it comes down to. It’s not that I love Christ or his church any less. I am simply over focused on the immediate while God sees the infinite. I see what we have on our plate today while God is well aware of the impact it will have into eternity.
I’ll leave the growing to God and simply trust him to make of the seeds I sow not a tree but a forrest.
Read all the posts in this series:
- Will the real church planter please…?
- Seeing the trees from the forest
- Thank God, it’s done!