"It" messed with me

Louie Weber recommended a book to me. When Louie recommends a book, I usually read it. Although we serve in two different places at two different churches, I know we are trying to pursue the same thing. Before I go on, I just want to thank Louie personally for this recommendation.

The book is called "It." The subtitle is "How Churches and Leaders Can Get 'it' and Keep 'it.'" Craig Groeschel spends time writing about churches that have it. He starts out by saying we have all been to churches that have it. You can tell pretty quickly if a church has it or not.

It is not about the quality of worship, teaching, ministry to teens and children or location (the big four in church growth). It is not about being contemporary or traditional. It is not the friendliness of the church.

So what is it? It is about having a passion for God. And this book messed me up!

Here is my confession:

In chapter 11 Craig Groeschel tells his story of how he shifted from it. My story is similar. He wrote, "It's difficult to describe, but while doing the work of God, I drifted from God. So many of us do. As pastors, we wholeheartedly believe that God exists, but we often do ministry as if he doesn't."

Let me explain. As Groeschel wrote, "I wasn't consumed by bad things; its just that I was not consumed by the best things." I began to think, if the walls are just the right color. If we have the right style of worship. If we just had more money. All these things are fine, but none of them is relying on the best thing (the best thing is God). We put our trust in so many things other than God.

You see, I often look back on my time as a student minister. We did not have the resources to have all the cool gadgets. We were not able to buy the best curriculum. We did not have a cool place for students to hang out. But the student ministry grew. Why? Because that was a time in my life that I had it.

We had to rely on God. Things were simple, but God provided.

Then something shifted. I became a senior minister. Again I really related to what Craig Groeschel said, "I was more concerned about issues that had never crossed my mind before. Instead of measuring success by my obedience to God, I measured success by how many people showed up and how many guest returned. With all my heart I wanted to be that good pastor. Since people offered more verbal feedback than God did, they became my primary audience."

I was once asked by someone to define success in ministry. After I thought about it for awhile I told the story of my father and me hiking on a small portion of the Appalachian trail. We hiked to a point called Mcafee's Knob view 1 view 2

As I look at the landscape I see a journey. A journey that changes often with the terrain. As I survey the journey I have just made, I see green valleys that remind me of the times the journey was peaceful and easy. I see hills and mountains that had to be climbed which remind me of those hard times in life. Now I stand and look at the journey and am reminded that God was there every step of the way.

My success is not built upon anything earthly, it is built on whether I relied on God. When this is our focus, we will have it. When we stop relying on things and start relying on God it is present.

I must go back to my old ways of relying on God, not men, not things and not myself.

Do you have it?