You probably got into ministry for all the right reasons.
I may not know you, but I do know myself. If we’re at all alike, there’s a good chance something else is true of you.
Some days you’re in ministry for all the wrong reasons.
Maybe it’s not as obvious as you’d think.
- You serve God.
- You rearrange your schedule for students.
- You bend over backward for parents.
- You lobby before your church leadership in all the right ways.
- You’re not trying to trick people out of their money.
- You don’t attempt to be the “sexier” youth group in town.
It’s as if every time people see what you’re doing, you’re caught living out the best template for ministry you can think of.
The problem is you can be doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons.
There’s a situation in my life right now with a disgruntled group of people who have found joy in being disgruntled together. They’re people I’ve loved and invested some of my best energy into, from teens I mentored and took on mission trips to adults I scrambled to serve. One of the louder households left our church and began complaining “sideways” – subtle enough to go unnoticed by most, but potent enough to create a funk that I’m still not sure what to do with. It’s as if no matter how hard I try to live out some of the most basic principles in Matthew 18 on reconciliation I’m met with misunderstanding, evasiveness and slander.
I’m doing all the right things.
At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
What I eventually realized is that some days it’s for all the wrong reasons.
There are moments that I want to be vindicated.
I want to work out the misunderstanding, because I hate having people say things about me that aren’t true- especially when I have put so much energy into doing the right things. If I dove into the reason why I do so, it is my human pride wanting to assert itself. I have to make clear that the door to reconciliation is open, but if they never walk through it or continue to group up on this then a part of me needs to turn this over to God.
Check out what the Bible reveals on this:
- God has a pattern of vindicating His people as a whole.(Deuteronomy 32:36)
- Humans have a desire to be vindicated individually by their behavior. (Job 13:18)
- People who watch us will notice our desire to be vindicated and may assume the worst. (Job 11:1-2)
- Jesus was vindicated by the Spirit – not other people. (1 Timothy 3:16)
- We will only experience real vindication when we spend time face to face with God. (Psalm 17:15)
If you don’t get this right, then all of the serving you do will come across as ministry perfume and not the genuine scent of Jesus Christ.
Wrestle with this. Consider what you’re doing to get people to think or say better things about you. Give someone else permission to point out when you build a case against a case someone has built against you.
Otherwise, it will leak out. To quote William Ury, “When you are angry, you will make the best speech you will ever regret.”
Thank you for loving students!