Competition or Teamwork?

I am a competitive person. For those that know me, this is an understatement. I thoroughly enjoy the excitement of competition on the basketball court, tennis court, video game or anything else! I think it is a fun and enjoyable thing to be competitive. But, competition can become an idol in life that controls feelings and emotions. The sudden ending to a sporting event reveals a winner and a loser (besides soccer). The temporary excitement of watching your favorite football team win is fun. As leaders, we need to stop competing against other churches. Scripture never says one church in the kingdom is the only "crown jewel" of the overall kingdom. We need to start teaming up instead of competing against other student ministries, churches and relationships. Satan was the first to compete with God before the garden of Eden! This then led to Satan tempting Adam and Eve to compete against God's commands. On and on we see the dangers of competition that is based on pride and not the grace of God.

Is it true that the same attitude from playing sports has seeped into the hearts of ministry leaders? I remember playing flag football in Bible college. Future church leaders would treat an intramural flag football game as if it was the Superbowl!? Competition was an understatement. I really enjoyed the fun and exciting competition between my classmates (besides a few instances)!

But what happens when we apply this same intensity and excitement to comparing other churches or ministries to our own? I think it creates walls of separation and creates "little kingdoms" instead of serving the actual kingdom of God. It creates an "elitist" attitude that comes out of competition with other ideas, strategies and churches. As leaders, we should always pursue excellence in everything we do but not at the motive of demeaning other leaders that are serving God. What would happen if leaders quit competing and started encouraging each other to improve in ministry?

Paul exhorted and rebuked the early church on the dangers of competition:

  "Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building." 1 Corinthians 3:1-8

I'm thankful for the friends in my life that continue to walk with me through ministry. It is about the relationship of running the race of ministry with other leaders that encourages me the most. Helping each other personally is to help each other with their lives and personal relationship with God. Why does everyone want to only talk about their attendance numbers, music style, or size of church?

^"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism." Colossians 3:23-25

Check out what Craig Groeschel says, I agree completely:

As leaders, we are in this together. Let's be competitive about helping each other succeed in our calling to serve the church. Success to God is faithfulness to the calling on our lives more than the numbers, sizes of buildings and bank accounts. Encourage each other and focus on the relationship more than performance. We all need encouragement right? We are on the winning team if we know and serve Jesus Christ! Let's be a team for the kingdom of God!

Unrealistic Reality

Social networking is a great ''invention" and has helped many people stay connected all across the world. Just as Facebook, Google+(not sure yet on this one), Twitter, and whatever else comes along are helpful, they can bring about obstacles to reality. We have a culture that is obsessed with creating an unrealistic profile online. It is much like wearing a mask that reveals a different person for others to see than who we are in reality. It is basically an unrealistic reality that we want people to perceive about us. I've heard this statement before, "perception is reality." It can be true but it really is not. We can "front" all we want about what we want to be, but God ultimately knows us! "You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely." Psalm 139:1-4 (NIV)

Do we care more about what people think than our Savior? It is easy to try to be something that we are not. Honesty should be a non-negotiable for those who claim to follow Christ. Why do we think we can try and lie to people when God already sees our heart?

When we understand our sinful state and clearly receive God's grace, we will grasp the reality of God! The world thrives on unrealistic reality through media everyday. God created us for worship, not of ourselves but Him! We must build our identity upon who He is and what He has done through the cross and resurrection! He makes us realize we are valuable and worthy. Reality is no longer just perceived but becomes crystal clear through a relationship with Christ!

Highs and Lows

I need to be honest and transparent. I enjoy writing. Many times when I begin writing a blog, message or Bible study, I want to lay out the complete truth of what I think and believe. In leadership there are highs and lows. In ministry there are definite highs and lows. In my short seven or so years in ministry, I have experienced many highs and lows personally. My first two years as a full-time student minister I was about to marry my wife, Cassidy when my brother Jordan was dealing with cancer. It was a time of strong emotions and questions while leading in ministry. How am I supposed to lead when personally I am completely discouraged, struggling emotionally, financially, and personally. I was learning a ton about myself and how to lead in ministry. I was trying to invest time, energy, prayer and encouragement into students. Months of encouragement, teaching and praying for different ones and then they would turn their back on me. I would say even now, seven years or so later that the most heart-breaking issue in ministry is pouring your life into people through the Lord's strength and they simply "shrug it off", block you on twitter/Facebook, ignore you and act as if God is non-existent. It breaks my heart and more importantly, God's heart. I still do not have a good grasp on how to handle this in ministry. I think this is the hidden truth of the ministry that many either do not talk about or just leave the ministry. I'm now in a place in my life that I want to help other leaders who are starting out (I'm praying about writing a book on ministry). I want to encourage leaders to never base faithfulness to God on how people respond to the love and truth of the gospel. God is teaching me to minister, serve, and pour out his grace into others without the expectation of it in return. Isn't this what Jesus did? 

Here are a few things I do when I'm faced with the highs and lows of ministry:

 - Spend time alone crying out to God. Get alone and write out your prayers. Ask God to forgive you in certain areas. Thank Him specifically for the blessings and relationships in your life. - Share the highs or lows with a trusted friend. Share the needs by being vulnerable and transparent. Ask for encouragement and prayer. - Celebrate those who ARE obeying Jesus and living for Him instead of complaining about those who are not. I believe this is important! Invest in those who are hungry and quit catering to those who think they don't need to grow aka "the church kid who acts as if they own the church". - When salvation and baptism occur, celebrate and encourage the person! - Speak truth into people's lives with grace. Challenge the status quo, but never choose to win the argument over the possibility of losing the relationship. - As a leader don't base your worth on how much money you make but on how many lives you impact for eternity. Money does not equal happiness. - Focus on who people are becoming instead of who they are right now. It takes time. Pray for God to move.

What I am not saying is neglect the students who need extra encouragement and especially those who need Jesus. What I have found is that the ones who cause the most problems in a student ministry and church is the students/adults who have been there for a long time and see no need for change in their lives. They are apathetic and have a "what can you do for me" mentality. This attitude is what is killing the church across America. Selfishness that is disguised in being comfortable basically tells those outside of the church to go to Hell.

I believe that a majority of my time in ministry, I have been "tilling up" the hard soil for the gospel to take root. It is hard work but no matter who spreads the seed or sows the fruit, it is vitally important for people's lives to be changed. If you are in ministry in some way, don't give up! Through the highs and lows God IS and will ALWAYS be faithful. I'm thankful God allows you and me to play a role in His story. Never give up on God's calling on your life!