All to Him I Owe

Our lives often resemble the congestion of a busy highway—people passing by us at lightning speed, while we tightly grip the steering wheel of life trying to make sure we stay in our lane and don’t crash into anyone on our way to our intended destination. Life is busy; but God put us on this earth for the purpose of touching people and sharing with them the good news of the Gospel, on our way to Heaven, our final destination. So how do we do that gracefully, without it feeling like we are just crashing into people as we fly through life? By merging into their lane of life with the use of some good on-ramps. Each of us needs to be building relationships, or on-ramps, into the lives of others. The following tips may equip you in this process.

1. Know your destination and build on-ramps that enable you to reach that destination.

Did you know that the famous London Bridge is actually in Arizona and goes absolutely nowhere? In 1968, Robert McCulloch purchased the bridge for $2.5 million. Each brick was individually coded, and then the bridge was transported to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where it was meticulously reconstructed brick by brick at a further cost of $7 million. Next, a channel was constructed underneath the bridge in order for water to actually flow under it. The irony is that the London Bridge is right next to the Colorado River, which at this particular spot has no bridge going over it, even though there is a legitimate need for one: the nearest crossing points for the residents of Lake Havasu City are either thirty miles to the north or twenty five miles to the south. Great effort and expense were put into building a bridge that really goes nowhere.

Many of the relationships we have built are just like the London Bridge: they don’t go anywhere, because we have not determined our final destination. Our initial destination for any relationship is a clear presentation of the Gospel. But our final destination is leading that person to Christ, discipling him, and then having him join us in helping others come to know Christ.

To build good on-ramps, know where your relationships are designed to end, and build with that destination in mind.

2. On-ramps do not build themselves.

On-ramps, or relationships, are not built through a particular program of the church. They are built by people. Building on-ramps will require initiative and hard word on YOUR part.

That initiative takes the form of a one-on-one, which means much more than just talking to people. I like to define a one-on-one as the process by which we stop our world to connect to someone else’s—and that’s where the hard work comes in.

3. Investment and time are the concrete that makes strong, healthy on-ramps.

On-ramps are strengthened and made healthy through investment, which typically requires both your time and your dime. That means that initially, in order to strengthen that relationship, you may have to drive farther than the one you’re investing in, pay more than he does, and sacrifice more than he does.

But the relationship will begin to grow even stronger and healthier when there is a two-way investment. A practical way you can encourage this is to allow your new friend to begin to invest in you. Ask him to teach you things that he does really well. If he is a grill master, let him teach you how to grill better. If he is good at a particular hobby, allow him to show you his skill. The things that people are good at are often the things they love. When we like what they love, relationships deepen.

In addition to investment, good relationships are strengthened through time. Although the Exchange Bible Study is designed for just four weeks, it may take you a number of weeks, even months, to build a relationship to the place that enables you to start that four-week study. We must abandon the idea that gospel Bible studies will only require four weeks of my life. It will require a significant investment of time to build the relationship for the sake of the gospel and to continue the relationship for discipleship after the person has accepted Christ.

4. Create an on-ramp that has a family environment to it.

Hosting a new friend in your home, a friend who feels like not much more than a stranger, is much different than hosting a family member you love and enjoy. It feels awkward at first, and that’s normal, but our goal is to do some things to intentionally overcome that awkwardness and make our new friend feel like family. Maybe these practical suggestions will help you.

First, use your homes and specifically your dining room table. Christ often gathered with the lost and His disciples around a meal. The act of gathering around a table in your home for a meal creates conversation, which in turn builds relationships. Perhaps your dining room table has become an unofficial storage spot, forcing your family to gather in front of the television for meals. Could I encourage you to clear off that table, prepare a simple meal, and invite your guests to be part of your family around the table?

Second, include the whole family in your pursuit of relationships with the unsaved. Your spouse and children can be part of the team that helps you reach people. The multiple personalities and interests within your home may be the tools necessary to make the people around you connect. If you are going to reach people for the gospel and then disciple them well, they are going to need to start doing life with you AND your family.

Third, invite people to join you for the normal things of life, not just the big events or the special services at church. Backyard BBQ’s, a walk around the neighborhood, watching the big sports game in your home, attending a concert or movie together—all of those normal things of life are not quite so daunting to an unbeliever; and you may find that they prove to be a good method for building on-ramps into people’s lives.

When you were learning to drive, you spent a lot of time on back country roads far from the intense traffic. At some point, you had to leave the country roads, drive down an on-ramp, and enter into the traffic on the freeway. Your knuckles were white, and fear gripped your heart (and probably your passengers’ hearts as well). Over time, though, the fear went away; and driving on and off the freeway just became part of driving. In a similar way, don’t be surprised if building on-ramps and then merging into the lives of people frightens you. Your first steps in building those on-ramps may feel awkward; but over time, it will just become part of living. When merging your life into the lives of others becomes normal for you, you will be accomplishing the purpose God has for you here on earth.

When I was growing up and my mom told me to relay a command to my younger brother Rick, our conversation would go something like this: “You need to clean up your room!” “Says who?” It was always gratifying and comforting to reply with, “Mom says so!” I had no personal authority in my brother’s life, but my parents did.

As adult Christians, I am afraid we have a subtle version of “says who?” that we use when someone tells us that we need to witness for Christ. Our frustration with having our personal priorities re-ordered or a convicting pressure placed upon us reveals that nature of our heart to resist the authority behind the command. Don’t resist the authority of Christ that prefaces His Great Commission to us. This authority that drives us to obey is the same authority that gives us confidence as we go. Matthew 28:18-19 says that all power is His–both the power to give us a command and the power to make our way prosperous. It is no surprise that we doubt the success of our mission when we regularly doubt the authority behind His command.

John Stott said, “The fundamental basis of all Christian missionary enterprise is the universal authority of Jesus Christ, ‘in heaven and in earth.’ If the authority of Jesus were circumscribed on earth, if He were but one of many religious teachers, one of many Jewish prophets, one of many divine incarnations, we would have no mandate to present Him to the nations as the Lord and the Savior of the world. If the authority of Jesus were limited in heaven, if He has not decisively overthrown the principalities and powers, we might still proclaim Him to the nations, but we would never be able to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Only because all authority on earth belongs to Christ dare we go to all nations. And only because all authority in heaven as well is His have we any hope of success.”

My travels over the last month have allowed me to cross paths with a number of pastors in the Rocky Mountain area that are consistently serving God but seeing minimal fruit. In fact, some of them can only number the salvations they have seen in their small towns with single digits. These men have not demonstrated sorrow or depression over the single digits, because they know the value of the one. Mark 16:26 reminds us of the great value of a soul. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” The few souls that some are seeing saved are more valuable than this whole world combined. A life spent ministering for the sake of one is not a wasted life. Take heart, even if your harvest numbers is in the single digits.

This is important, because our view of the one may be a determining factor in our faithfulness to that Great Commission command. Former President George H. Bush was rescued at sea during WWII. Time magazine carried an article a number of years ago that shared the following: Bush met a former Japanese soldier who claimed he actually saw the rescue of Bush when the submarine Finback surfaced and plucked him off his tiny dinghy. The old man related that one of his friends had remarked as they watched the swift rescue, “Surely America will win the war if they care so much for the life of one pilot.” Serve your Lord today with a sense of the value of one!

The authority behind the commission gives us great assurance to our mission’s success. Don’t be discouraged by single digits in your harvest field. Stay faithful!

I had the privilege of playing little league baseball for much of my youth. Though I had the opportunity to pitch for a few seasons, my primary position was always catcher. During one of the playoffs, a hitter stepped away from a wild pitch and erratically swung his bat, hitting me in the head. Although I had a helmet on, my head got rattled; and I began to experience dizziness. Coach pulled me from the game, and I got sidelined for one our biggest games of the season. I hated being sidelined! I wanted to be in the game. I didn’t want to just watch the team work; I wanted to be doing the work.

Similarly, there are times in our ministries where we feel like we got sidelined. Physical maladies, trials outside our control, and sinful struggles that leave us feeling inadequate are all things that can seem to pull us from the front lines of ministry. When those things have hit my life, I have often asked the Lord, “Why? What are you doing? Why have you sidelined me?

Have you ever wrestled with those same questions?

It is hard when you move from being very busy and active in ministry life to suddenly sitting on the sidelines out of play and wondering what our role is to now be. It is easy to be tempted on the sideline and to withdraw into a self-focused emotional cocoon and lose heart. We begin to think, “After all, what good am I anyway?”

I would like to share four simple thoughts with you for the times when we feel sidelined in the work of God.

1. Focus on what God is doing, rather than what you are not doing. I love Exodus 14:13 when God tells the Israelites to “stand still” at the water’s edge, while the Egyptians were bearing down upon them. The human instinct would have been to turn around and fight or jump in the water and swim! But God told them to stand and see. We miss seeing the mighty hand of God at work when we are focused on what we can’t do, rather than on what God is doing. The Israelites got to observe one of the greatest miracles in the Bible by standing still and watching. The sea split, the ground was made dry, and Egyptians died without the Israelites ever lifting a sword! Don’t miss out on seeing the work God wants to do when you are sidelined.

2. Do the little that you can with the little that you have. The last few years have brought a new malady to my life that happens every fall. I get a kidney stone! My kidney stones have resulted in long days in bed, sleepless nights, even a few hospital stays. I am sidelined! I can’t read my Bible, preach, teach, check email, or meet with people. I’m out of commission. I’m slowly learning that though I’m limited, there are little things God still allows me to do. Sleepless nights have found moments of special prayer for others suffering in our church. I have also found that rather than going on visitation, I’m the object of others’ visitation. When I’m visited, I have an opportunity to minister from my bed to those God sends. When you find yourself on the side line, do the little you can with the little that you have.

3. Don’t miss the lessons that are taught in the classroom of inactivity. Just because you are sidelined from the front lines of ministry doesn’t mean God is going to stop ministering to you. Seasons of inactivity are creatively designed by God to teach you some things that you could perhaps only learn in a state of stillness. Don’t be so frustrated with being out of the game that you fail to learn. Don’t miss the fact that God is doing something in you, though it may not feel like He is working through you.

4. Remember God works in our weakness. This is my final and most important point! II Corinthians 12:9 promises that the greater our weakness, the greater God works! The greater God works, the greater glory He receives. I often feel that my work for God has become pathetic when He sidelines me. But isn’t it true that my works for God are always pathetic? Any good that has ever come from these hands of ministry were because God did it! In God’s economy, He chooses to use clay pots and earthen vessels to do His work so that He will get full glory. The work of God doesn’t cease when we are sidelined! In fact, His work increases.

This is and always will be God’s work. It is a privilege to be part of God’s work, whether you are in the field or on the sideline. Don’t let a season on the sideline discourage you.

A young pastor wrote John Newton and asked him for any thoughts on the occasion of his entering into ministry. John Newton complied and responded with a letter that is entitled “The Snares and Difficulties Attending the Ministry of the Gospel.” It can be found in the book the Christian Pastor’s Manual which was compiled by John Brown. For your encouragement and exhortation I want to share a synopsis of his thoughts with you today.

Newton began with these words: “You have doubtless often anticipated in your mind the nature of the service to which you are now called, and made it the subject of much consideration and prayer. But a distant view of the ministry is generally very different from what it is found to be when you are actually engaged in it.” Newton went on to say, “If the Lord was to show us the whole beforehand, who, that has a due sense of his own insufficiency and weakness, would venture to engage?” Think about the grace of God in this. Isn’t it kind of the Lord to show us the difficulties of ministry gradually over the years? He draws us into the ministry by His constraining love and a vision for souls. Then, over time, He reveals the difficulties in a progression that prevents us from being completely overwhelmed.

The letter continued on to highlight two primary difficulties that a minister of the gospel will face. Newton explained that the first difficulty is adversity and the temptation to respond incorrectly to it. He called that temptation the adversity within our adversity. The adversity in our adversity is to respond in one of two ways to the inevitable difficulties of ministry life. We can respond to adversity in our own strength and try to solve the problems ourselves. Or, we can respond to adverse people causing our adversity in like kind. Both of these responses are wrong and add a weight of consequence to our adversity. Newton’s simple advice to this adversity was this, “A patient continuance in well doing, a consistency in character, and an attention to return kind offices for hard treatment, will, in a course of time, greatly soften the spirit of opposition.”

The first difficulty in ministry is adversity. The second difficulty Newton highlights is popularity. He says, “If adversity has hurt many, popularity has wounded more.” I love the next phrase, “There will be almost the same connection between popularity and pride, as between fire and gunpowder; they cannot meet without an explosion, at least not until the gunpowder is kept very damp.” To avoid this adversity I would greatly encourage you to keep the gunpowder (our prideful hearts) as damp as possible through the water of the Word. Allow the Word of God to correctly assess your condition before God. Avoid reading your Bible this week simply to prepare for your next sermon. Read it with the intent of seeing it perform an autopsy on your soul revealing who you really are, not what people think you are.

Newton concluded his letter with a phrase that surfaces in a number of his discourses both in private letters and in public lessons. “May the Lord make you wise and watchful! That he may be the light of your eye, the strength of your arm, and the joy of your heart.”

A retired pastor recently told me that he used to call Mondays “autopsy day.” It was the day that he processed his sermon, his motives, and his conversations from the previous day. Another pastor recently posted on his Facebook page, “The plight of preaching–Monday morning, you seem to only remember the dumb things you said.” The words of these men resonate with me! I am like a medical examiner on Mondays. In addition to my mental autopsy, I also leave Sundays in an administrative mindset, wanting to fix and adjust things I observed on Sunday. What a combination: I’m a medical examiner and an administrative junky all wrapped into one package on Mondays. If I looked like I felt, you would see a man in a clinical gown feverishly typing on his laptop, while talking on his blue tooth.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to be married to me! Not only does my wife have to keep up with the ever-changing schedule of ministry and the people needs that are constantly present, she also has to live with me, a man who carries the weight of ministry and rides the roller coaster of emotions that go with that.

There is no question that ministry life is an exhausting life. It takes a toll on our bodies, mind, emotions, and family relationships. People outside the pastoral ministry jokingly say, “It must be nice to work one day a week.” If you are in camp ministry you might have heard someone say, “It must be nice to just play games with kids all day.” But for those of us in the ministry, we love it and wouldn’t trade it for anything else; but we know the work that is involved and that it really is exhausting!

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote a letter to his friend the Reverend Leslie Land. He was burdened by the news that Land had grown very ill due to over exhaustion in the work of the ministry. The doctor-turned-minister filled his letter with both practical and spiritual advice. One section of the letter is especially noteworthy for us today. Lloyd-Jones said, “The devil always seeks to take advantage of fatigue or any physical disability and always tries to discourage! His one objective only and always is to separate us from Christ. If he can do that by making us concentrate on ourselves, our symptoms, our work, or our future, he is content.”

A mind that is resting in God can bring you great encouragement. I leave you with the closing words of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ letter to Reverend Land: “Rest in Him, and abandon yourself entirely to Him.”

Evangelism does not require an extrovert personality! It does require us to be obedient and loving.

I am afraid that many of us are overwhelmed by the example of evangelistic people who would often be described as being a “people person.” They are outgoing and interesting. They seem to be able to start a conversation with perfect strangers. They have a smile and winning personality that seems to naturally draw people to them. A particular personality may seem like the key ingredient to evangelism but it is not. The Lord does not limit his command to those with certain personalities and neither does he command us to be extroverts.

The gospel’s power is not restrained or enhanced by our personality. In Romans 1:16 Paul states that the gospel “…is the power of God unto salvation.” A gospel message that is this powerful simply needs to be given! I’m convinced that all of us need to simply be obedient to the great commission and go give the gospel. Don’t use your personality as an excuse for failing to obey a God given directive. An introvert personality can be just as equally used as an extrovert personality especially if our obedience is motivated by love. The more we love God and our neighbors the easier it is to rise above the difficulty of a personality to reach someone for Christ.

We are daily walking by people without Christ while the most powerful life changing message is in our hands. What a tragedy for us to waste such a powerful message while we excuse our lack of obedience because of our personality.

Many of us attended the Exchange Seminar and left with an intention to increase our gospel witness. To those who did, I have a question for you: How are you doing? Do you need to get back at it? Make a point this week to pursue one of the people in your find five list.

Many of us have been saved for an extended period of time. Let me ask you this question: When was the last time you initiated a gospel driven relationship with someone and gave the gospel to them?

The excuse of personality is one I highlighted above but is just one of many that we use. Would you join me in throwing out all of our excuses and just obediently, lovingly give the gospel this week?

The term gun shy was originally used to describe a bird dog that cowered at the sound of a gun. Over time, it began being applied to people who are wary, distrustful, and frightened, as a result of a previous experience.

I am a gun-shy pastor. On a regular basis, I have to fight my wariness, distrust, and fear of people. Some people whom I have loved and served and in whom I have invested have fired back at me with hurtful words and actions. Their responses have left me with a reluctance to love others again. But despite what others have said or done, God has not given me an allowance to stop loving people. I’m guessing that some of you can identify with what I’m talking about. You, too, have experienced both the risk and reward of lovingly investing in others. So, how do we overcome a gun-shy complex and love the people God has given us? Let me suggest three things that have been helping me.

1.    God’s hesed love for me

In his helpful book, the Loving Life, Paul Miller defines God’s hesed love as “love without an exit strategy.” Have you ever thought about the fact that God loves us with no anticipation of ever ceasing to love us? Though I may grieve him with my actions, words, and thoughts, He has a relentless love that never takes an exit, while He waits for me to get my act together again. Our hurtfulness towards God is far greater than the hurt others have caused us. God’s faithful love towards us not only sets a standard for us but also inspires us to love as He loves.

2.    Calvary and Christ’s death for me

Calvary shows us the utter selflessness of Christ’s death for us. He endured pain, embarrassment, and harassment to enable God to do us good. He did not just do one kind thing and wait for our response; He endured the cross and all of the difficulty surrounding it, regardless of our response. His disciples fled, betrayed Him, and cowered; but Christ endured. After His resurrection, He did not avoid those who had hurt him but instead pursued them, desiring fellowship with them. I would have had a hard time standing on the beach seeking fellowship with Peter. But Christ loved Peter and sought him out after that fruitless night of fishing. God’s enduring love towards us not only inspires us but also enables us to love others in the same way. Because of Calvary and the redeeming work of Christ in us, love for others is possible. The desire and ability to do the right thing is possible, because of God’s work in us (Philippians 2:13).

3.    Hebrews 6:10, my “ministry life preserver”

This is the verse I turn to when I am struggling. I love it because it directs my thoughts toward a proper view of the ministry. For instance, isn’t it interesting that God calls the ministry a “work and labor of love?” God knows the difficulty we face loving others and even describes it as sweaty, laborious work. Sometimes it is just comforting to know that God knows this is hard work. That hard work, though, is never in vain! God also says in Hebrews 6:10 that He is not unrighteous to forget that work and labor of love. Regardless of how people respond to my love and ministry to them, God never forgets.

We have all been called into ministries that involve serving and loving people. Nearly all of us can probably recount the gunshots of hurt that we have received in ministry. Are you gun shy? Have you found yourself creating a distance between you and others, because of fear that you will get hurt again? That distance between you and others needs to be closed. Overcome wariness of people with the Word of God, and go love those whom God has called you to.

I love the seniors that God has brought into my life and our congregation. They are some of the richest blessings to my personal life and ministry. My personal goal as a pastor is to keep learning the best ways to communicate my care for them and to minister to them well. Over the years, I have created a short list of things that I review periodically as I serve them. For your edification, I would like to share them with you.

1. Change my pace to adapt to their pace. This change must happen in both my pace of movements and my speed of communication. I like to walk fast and talk quickly! But as I serve seniors, I must slow down to their pace.

2. Communicate with their limitations in mind. I jokingly say that I have been cursed with the “Perry mumble.” Between my southern roots and my family heritage I can be soft-spoken and not enunciate very well. Because seniors often struggle with hearing loss, we must communicate louder and clearer.

3. Compliment with sincerity. I am struck with how many seniors struggle with depression and discouragement. A large amount of this is due to their sense of worthlessness or inadequacies. I’ve never met a worthless senior! Our sincere compliments placed in letters, emails, and public acknowledgements can be a strong medicine for the senior with a sad countenance.

4. Consider their season of life, and show them they are not forgotten. One of our seniors recently told me that his mailing list of friends to send Christmas cards to keeps getting shorter each year. He said, “Every year we hear that more of our friends have died!” A word that can sometimes best describe a senior’s “season of life” is loss. They are losing strength, memory, friends, etc. The holidays can be extremely difficult for a senior. The normal traditions of Thanksgiving and Christmas can highlight the memories of things or people they have lost throughout the years. A card that reminds them you have not forgotten their spouse that died or the gift that reminds them that you love them just the way they are now can be a huge encouragement.

5. Continually give them honor. Giving seniors honor requires that we should always avoid humor that is at their expense. We should always place their needs above our own agenda or preferences. A simple way that regularly helps me in the area of honor is to seek to learn from every senior I am with. For instance, today I asked the question of a senior, “What has been the most encouraging passage of Scripture God has given you since losing your wife?” I asked another man recently, “Would you please tell me about the times you saw God specifically answer your prayers for financial provision?” Both of these questions set the senior I was with up to be the teacher and enable me to honor them in a special way as I listened and learned.

6. Creatively produce opportunities for seniors to contribute. The feeling of uselessness is one of the worst feelings a human can experience. A person who thinks he or she is too old or without the ability to keep up with this young generation can fall into a lethargic, woe-is-me  mentality. It takes a little creativity, but there is a place for every senior to serve!

By God’s grace I want to be a minister who ministers well to seniors! Together may we implement these 6 C’s to do this as a congregation.