TANGLED MINISTRY IN THE NAME OF ACTIVITY

Ministry is a strange and wonderful call. 

The wonder is found that such is from the voice of God wishing to send each of us into a land of Kingdom opportunity of service.  The strange part is that it takes discernment as to whether we are hearing God's voice which leads to productivity.  Or, are we listening to flesh-ego-centered voices which please the chart keepers and the measurement takers.

Ministry can be a tangled wad of nonsense which leads in circular ineffectiveness.  Too, it can be the wizzardry of awesome productivity.  Ours is the challenge to know the difference.

William James said, The essence of genius is to know what to overlook.

Not all opportunities are of God.  They may serve as distractionary.

Lk. 9:57-62 reveals Jesus knew of this battle.  Dual calls were heard by wanna-be disciples.  There was the voice of Jesus and then there was the voice of apparent acceptable responsibility.  Jesus noted the later as unacceptable excuse.

So it is for us to monitor our Kingdom involvement.  This has been a painful truth for me as in my earlier days I gaged my worth according to how I pleased men.  Of course, I was a grand failure.

Jesus places before us a serious perspective.  We must have our senses trained to discern which is the call of God and which is the plea of keeping our brothers and sisters pleased with us.  Jesus' response to let the dead bury the dead was incredibly insensitive and yet directly the very point. 

Entering this zone of culling the whether to engage/don't engage is a gold mine of both relief and productivity.  We are to say no to the many distracting invitations which are nothing more than excuses to keep us from paying attention to the authentic call of God at hand.  I was once impressed with others and myself when our calendars were frantic with schedules. 

No longer.

Such isn't the sign of a servant of God.  It is more likely a sign of a servant of one's pleading ego.

Sometimes the greatest work is not to do the work which others feel compelled....that YOU ought to be doing.  Tangled ministry in the name of activity is not of the nature of God; nor of His followers. 

Keep it simple.  God will likely get much more done through your rest than your hyper-need to impress us with church busyness.