During bible study class on Wednesday evening I shared with the body of Christ that one
of the things we often do wrong in ministry, is that we approach the work of the Lord from
a place of Emotion vs. a position of Devotion. This means that we allow how we feel
about an assignment, an individual, or an atmosphere to become a determining factor of
how much effort we give to the work before us. Our willingness to do or not to do is often
driven by how we FEEL rather than by what we KNOW.
We all have feelings and we are all greatly emotional about many things in our lives. We
are even taught to not just have love, but feel love. We are taught not to just have joy, but
feel joy. So how do we disconnect from what we feel and do ministry emotionless? Don’t
misunderstand me, it’s not that we shouldn’t feel happy when someone we’ve witnessed to
gives their life to Jesus, we should. The bible says that if we morn over the loss of someone
we love, it’s alright and we will be comforted. Those feelings are not only understood, they
are expected.
What I’m talking about, however, is that we cannot allow what we feel to distract us from
fulfilling the call of ministry on our lives. We must shine the light of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ to all men regardless of what we may feel about them. We must obey the teachings
of forgiveness and restoration to all men regardless of how we feel about what they’ve
done to us. We must give faithfully to the church regardless of what we feel the stewards
are doing with the seed we plant.
The enemy looks for ways to exploit our feelings and cause us to pause before obeying the
Lord and first ask ourselves how we feel about it. That’s one of his tricks to try and steal
away from us what’s been sewn into our hearts. Remember how the older brother of the
Prodigal Son was upset and felt cheated when his father gladly received the younger
brother back into the home? The elder sibling watched how his little brother mistreated his
father and then ran off with his inheritance only to squander it foolishly and then come
later begging for forgiveness. The older brother felt very upset that his father would even
consider restoring the younger one, but he was wrong to allow his feelings to cloud his
judgement. The younger brother was back and all should have been as happy as the father
was because the one that was lost – was not found.
When you focus on the ultimate goal of ministry and not on the various people who come
and go in ministry, then you’ll be able to celebrate the victories and remain unmoved
when things or people go wrong around you. We are given a great responsibility – let’s not
allow temporary feelings to interfere with a lifelong call to service.
EVERYTHING WE DO MOVING FORWARD WILL BE INTENTIONAL AND DRIVEN WITH
PURPOSE TO REPRESENT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE BEST POSSIBLE LIGHT!
NOTHING WILL BE DONE WITH ENERGY LESS THAN OUR BEST AND EFFORT BELOW
OUR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL.
OUR SERVICE IS LOCAL, BUT OUR REACH IS GLOBAL – SO WE CANNOT REDUCE OUR
PRESENTATION DOWN TO WHAT’S CONVENIENT, BUT RATHER WE MUST RAISE IT TO
THAT WHICH IS EXPLOSIVE!
Get ready for major change that’s coming systematically, intellectually, purposefully, and
professionally. Nothing we do moving forward will be done haphazardly, sloppily, poorly,
or carnally.
We Are the LIGHT!
Sincerely,
Pastor J.E. Chandler, Sr.