Number 5: You can’t take credit for anything that happens spiritually. My prayer for every person that reads this blog, that gets resources on KidzMatter.com, and that reads K! Magazine is that they will make a deep spiritual impact. After all, that’s why we do what we do.
The kingdom of God will grow if you aren’t obsessed with getting the credit. Give the glory to God for every spiritual victory in your life and ministry.
Number 4: You can’t be everything to everyone. This is going to be hard for you golden retrievers out there that like to please. You have to come to grips with the fact that you’ll never make everyone happy. You can’t be everything to everyone. If you try, you’ll find yourself running in circles and going nowhere.
The quicker you learn that you will never connect with every person in your ministry the faster you’ll succeed in ministry. (You’ll also never connect with every kid.) Although you can’t connect with everyone, Jesus can. That’s the good news and the hope.
Today is a very important day. It’s the day Mac users from all around the world visit the veritable “Mecca” of Mac-dom (a.k.a. Moscone West Expo Center in San Francisco), and many more gather with them via text and video feeds online. Today is the day of the Macworld keynote address by Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.
Yes, every single blogger here uses a Mac. We’re totally sold. Why has Apple been able to gain such rabidly fanatical users? The answer comes in a quote from H.J. Heinz (the ketchup guy) many years ago: “To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success.“ That’s why. Computers and MP3 players weren’t anything new when Apple released their versions of them, but they did them radically well. They did something so well, that the users that stuck with them were fanatics.
In the past 25 years, personal computers have gone from a few thousand users to over 1 billion users. There are almost as many computer users as Christians in the world. Christians took 2000 years, PCs took 25. Why the difference? Because PCs were so revolutionary, they spread like wildfire.
What if you could get the kids and parents in your ministry to be just that fanatical? Aim for it. Tell your kids that their faith is nothing to be ashamed of, but is to be shared with everyone how absolutely amazing it is. Push your kids to that level. You might be surprised to see a sudden explosion of growth. Kids are the church of today, and can spread God’s love now. But childhood is so vitally important in faith formation, you may, as a childrens’ pastor, reach more people than you could ever imagine through one small child.
Keep pushing. Keep proclaiming. Keep praying.
Number 3: You can’t let little problems go. This is a tough one for me. Sometimes I’d rather blow off the little problems and cross my fingers hoping they never develop into big problems. The problem is this: little problems always lead to big problems given time.
I remember when I was a kid I volunteered to burn the trash outside on a hot and dry day. I stuffed one too many things in that burn barrel and a gust of wind came through. The next thing I knew the grass had caught on fire. Of course, to a 12-year-old kid, I was petrified and knew that that the whole property was going to go up in flames and it was going to be my fault. It didn’t. We stopped the fire after a few minutes of spraying it with the water hose. The point? It’s easier to stop a spark then a blaze. Deal with the little problems today to save some big headaches tomorrow.
Number 2: You can’t substitute anything for prayer. It’s easy for ministry people to think they can do it all. After all, we’re spiritual leaders and we’re suppose to have it all together, right? We can keep everything under control.
Several years ago I was talking to one of our deacons about a shortage of nursery workers (some things never change, huh?). I told him about all the attempts we had been making to get new workers. He asked me a simple question, “Have you prayed about it?” Gulp. After all, Jesus said to pray so that He would send the workers (Luke 10:2). I had been working my tail off trying get workers, but had neglected to ask the One who could send them.
Remember, there’s a lot of things you can do in the ministry. There is one thing you can’t: you can’t substitute anything for prayer.
Over the next several days I am going to share with you seven things that you can’t do in the ministry. This list is not inclusive, but they are seven important things to learn. The quicker we learn them, the more effective our ministries will be.
Number 1: You can’t change people. People grow and change, but it’s not because of you. Whenever there is change in a person’s life, it is a Divine work.
Not everyone needs to change. I don’t like that. There are people in my church that I’d love to change because they drive me nuts. (Don’t act shocked that I would say that, you feel the same way!)
I learned some time ago that if everyone was like me, we would have problems. For example, I don’t like to think about things. I’m a doer. After all, I’m too busy to think about things. On the other hand, my pastor is analytical. He likes to think about things. This use to really bother me until one day I thought, “You know, someone’s got to think about it!”
We’re all different. You’re not going to change anyone, and that’s okay.
If you like reading my posts here on the blog you’ll love theClub it’s my monthly audio leadership resource. It’s available on mp3 and CD, if you are under 30, in full time ministry and will agree to pray for me at least once a week you can get it free at jimwideman.com. Want to be a better leader? Then join the club! Then each month you can hear how I see it!
I just got done reading a post over at the Center for Church Communication’s blog all about getting what you preach for. Go read it, then come back.
OK, good, you’re back now. What is your ministry preaching? What is its primary focus? Are you really preaching those things, or do you just think you are? Examine your ministry today. Look at what you think is your “big thing”. Maybe your ministry’s big thing is outreach. Or family ministry. Or loving kids. Then go and ask your volunteers and parents what they feel is being communicated. Do they feel that your “big thing” is flashy programs or cheesy 1950’s era picture books?
If your idea of your “big thing” lines up with what you’re actually communicating, great. If it doesn’t, look at where your downfalls are. Then go back, fix those things, then resurvey again in a few months. You may find out it’ll make life a whole lot easier.
It’s easy to quit after a success. I am so pumped that the first issue of K! Magazine finally hit the mail Friday. Six months of work finally became a reality! If I’m not careful, I could put it in neutral right now. We dare not do that! We can’t stop now!
Don’t stop after a success or victory. Keep that momentum going.
The same is true spiritually. John Mason once shared five ways to have divine momentum in your life. They are:
1) Be fruitful (2 Cor. 9:10)
2) Speak the truth (Eph. 4:15)
3) Be spiritually mature (Heb. 6:1)
4) Crave the Word of God (1 Peter 2:2)
5) Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus (2 Peter 3:18)
Don’t stop now! Let go of whatever makes you stop. Keep the momentum going!
We recently launched a new church website at my church. I decided to go with Advanced Ministry for our website (they are awesome). One thing I liked about Advanced Ministry was the ability to create several blogs.
I asked my pastor if he would ever consider blogging. I honestly expected him to say no. He said yes. Today I finally took the time to show him how it’s done and he posted his first blog post.
I appreciate his willingness to stay culturally current in his ministry. The easiest thing for him to have done was tell me no and move to the next thing. However, he understands the media age in which we live and hopes that this blog can help him connect with the church family.
Speaking of being culturally current, if one more person asks me when I am going to create a FaceBook account… ha ha. Every week someone asks me about my FaceBook account, to which I have to tell them, “It’s a goal for ‘08″. Maybe one of these days soon it will happen.
Make my pastor’s day. Post a comment on his blog and encourage him. I did.