Don't Flatter Yourself
/This morning, the Lord helped solidify something in my heart that I feel compelled to share with you. Many of us are Christ followers who are a part of a church or ministry that is doing great things for God and impacting people. Awesome. And we ought to be excited about our role in the Kingdom. So neat that we get to participate in making God's dreams come true on earth.
However....
And a BIG however...
We must not get too impressed with ourselves!
A number of exchanges that I have had in the last week have led me to believe that too many people (including me) are too impressed with themselves, their church and it's work. They are so impressed that they don't listen...they only wait to talk again and tell you the amazing thing their church is doing. And then I think..."really?!?!"
The harvest is too great to flatter ourselves, guys! There are too many people that don't love and obey Jesus yet to start getting impressed with ourselves or each other.
I cannot fathom how one can feel they have arrived because they "broke the 200 barrier" or the 2,000 barrier or the 200,000 barrier for that matter! Who cares if there are 500,000 people in your church! Should you stop there and take credit?
So, I will be the first to work on this. I am not impressed with what we are doing in Africa. No matter how many leaders we are training and launching, it is not enough! I will be careful to tell stories this well make it seem that we have arrived. We have not.
And I invite you to be next. Get unimpressed. Get agitated. And stop flattering yourself.
And I think that we can do this...and still celebrate every life and win. How do we find the balance?
Thoughts?