SWIMMING AT THE SHALLOW END OF THE MINISTRY POOL?

My experience in Kingdom Life is we each lean toward a certain facet of church productivity.  It may mean teaching a Ladies Class on Tuesday mornings or directing a Food Pantry or teaching one-on-one Bible studies in the neighborhood.  All are noble.

Simultaneously, there seems to be a consistent trend that while one is engaged in his or her forte', there seems to be a natural criticism flow toward others who are not as intrigued by "our" sense of gifted direction.

Among us are the Big Dogs, the Driven Dogs, the What's Happening Now Dogs, and the What? Dogs.

My observation is that most of us are merely swimming at the shallow end of the ministry pool regardless of which sled we pull.

• Those devoted to doctrinal purity tend to become self-righteous.
• Those devoted to educational intricacies must be careful not to miss Jesus during personal infatuation.
• Those devoted to winning souls one on one may be operating more toward a sales percentage of cold calls than with the partnership of the Holy Spirit.
• Those devoted to the latest and greatest worship fad may have made an idol rather than loving God.
• Those devoted to writing blog posts....well, I didn't need to get personal...may be wanting recognition more than wishing to inspire a hurting sort.

How would one know if we are serving from the shallow end of the ministry pool?  One way we can tell is if we spend much of our time critical of another's devotion more than giving attention to our own development in the Holy Spirit work of God.