Six Questions I Try To Keep In Front Of Me -

This series based on II Timothy 2:15

I am trying to ask myself six questions based on this verse…

#1 - Am I giving God my absolute best?  

The first three words are both demanding AND convicting…DO YOUR BEST!  (God makes is VERY apparent about how He thinks  about odds and ends in Malachi 1:6-14!)

There are times as a church leader I am tempted to coast…to make the trouble-free decision instead of the right one…to get out of the meeting rather than deal with the problem…to let things slide rather than hurt someone’s feelings. Not often but there are those times who I would just rather say, “Let’s pray.”

BUT…as a Shepherd God has called me to honor Him by giving Him my absolute best…and that means going the extra mile in every single area of my life.

#2 - Am I More Concerned About God Or Others?  

Scripture is very clear, “Do your best to give present yourself to God…”

When “the end” is here I will stand before God and will NOT answer as to… Eccl 7:1-6

• Whether or not I kept people contented.
• Whether or not I appeased the bloggers.
• Whether or not I preached sermons that people WANTED to hear.

I will answer for whether or not I was faithful to WHO He called me to be and WHAT He called me to do!

Craig Groeschel that says, “The quickest way to forget what God says about me is to become obsessed with what others say about me.”

SO TRUE!

When my head hits the pillow at night I’ve got to know that I have tried my best to honor HIM and HIS calling on my life…which IS NOT EASY in a world where everyone seems to have an opinion and a website!

BUT…focusing on them doesn’t allow me to focus on Him!  (BTW…it isn’t helping you either!!!)

Paul said it best in Galatians 1:10…we have a choice…I have made mine and will not look back…there is way too much at stake!

#3 - Does God Approve?  

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved…”

This kind of overlaps with the last question; however, I believe the conclusion is slightly different.

Whenever I am wrestling with a decision and I think I have came to a conclusion the final filter I run it through is, “Is this a good decision or a God decision?  Does God approve of this?”

I have a philosophy…could be debated I guess…but I think that I am right!  :-)  I am all about getting as many people around me as possible to help make a decision.  The book of Proverbs speaks over and over again of not trying to make leadership decisions alone…

However…I believe there are certain times in a leaders life when God will reveal to him the right decision that needs to be made…and he, at least for a while, will feel all alone when it comes to his conviction.

Remember Dave in the cave?  Saul is after him, wants to kill him…goes into a cave to drop a load and David “just happens” to be in there?  It looked like the right opportunity!  His men were telling him to go for it–heck, they even had a verse!

BUT…David knew that God would not approve of him killing Saul (even though Saul was in an incredibly vulnerable position!)

If I ever as a leader try to make everyone around the leadership table with me happy and ignore God in the process…that makes me a poor leader.

Now, before I move on from this let me clearly say that in the nine years NewSpring has existed there has been LESS than five times EVER that I have disagreed with my entire leadership team.

AND…each time that happens I don’t ever pull the authority card.  A few times we have tabled the decision to seek the Lord more…and at least once I asked them to trust me because I really felt like I had heard from the Lord.

(If you are pulling the “God told me” card every week and never allowing the leaders at the table to speak…you’ll run off your best leaders!)

I’ve said it for the longest time–leadership is as easy as listening to God…and if we listen and obey–He approves.  It is THAT simple!

 

#4 - Am I Being slothful?  

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, A WORKMAN…”

One of the biggest temptations for a leader is to become lazy and the begin to expect God to do what HE has clearly commanded the leader to do.

• It is my responsibility as a leader,  and pastor to make sure I am prepared to preach God’s Word every Sunday, and Wednesday.  Three messages on Sunday and one on Wednesday is a task.
• It is my responsibility as a leader to make sure that I am growing in my faith and in my leadership abilities.  This is by reading the Word of God. Reading material that helps me process leadership.
• It is my responsibility as a leader to work hard, to put time, effort and energy into the things God has called me to lead. 

One of the most dangerous things a leader can do is put their leadership on cruise control.  God didn’t call us to cruise…He called us to create…and that ONLY comes through us being willing to roll up our sleeves and WORK HARD.

#5 - Is There Anything I Am Ashamed Of?  

II Timothy 2:15, “…who does not need to be ashamed…”

One of the VALUES that Christian leaders  MUST frequently place in front of them is the value of personal integrity.

 

 “Is there anything going on in your life privately that, if it became public, would disqualify you from ministry?”

Fellow friends     we’ve GOT to be SERIOUS about integrity!  Yes, we are in a battle…but I Corinthians 10:13 tells us there is a way out of temptation…that we do not have to bow down to it but rather through Christ we can stand up under it!!!

We don’t need any more pastors/ministry leaders making horrible moral decisions!  Seriously…we should be willing to take whatever steps necessary to guard ourselves!

One thing I know about God…He doesn’t play!  Galatians 6:7 says He will not be mocked…and to the ministry leader that pretends all is well but has sin issues that he refuses to confess and repent of…bro, God doesn’t play games!

So…what steps are you taking to safeguard yourself?  Some of mine are…

• I do not handle the money at Rivers of Joy Baptist Church
• I do not counsel women.
• I will not ride alone with a woman in a car other than Charity or my children
• I will not have lunch or dinner (or breakfast) alone with a woman other than Charity or my daugher
• Basically I will not spend time alone with a woman other than my wife and daughter!

Am I legalistic about this?  YES!

I have friends that ask me whether or not I am handling my money responsibly.

Those are just a few of the things.  I’ve learned that the person responsible for my personal integrity is me…no one else.  And that I’ve got to realize where my greatest temptations are and then plan accordingly to not place myself in those areas.

There is TOO MUCH AT STAKE for me (and YOU) to fall!

#6 - Am I Handling God’s Word Correctly?  

“…and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

I take teaching and preaching the Word of God seriously–VERY seriously…every teacher should.

One of the scariest days of my life was one day when I was reading through the book of James and really began to concentrate on   JAMES 3:1-12

BAM…something hit me that day that I had never seen.  I had always used this text to speak to others about the things they say and the way they say them…you know, we’ve all used this text to talk to others about the dangers of mispeaking.

BUT  James 3:1 absolutely caught my attention that morning…and I believe in this text that James was specifically speaking to people who preach and teach God’s Word…and how we should take seriously what we say.