Yesterday I got to spend some 6 hours with a great friend of mine from college in St. Louis watching our Cardinals lose. Todd is the Worship Minister of Broadway Christian Church, my home church. We got to talking about ministry and how some people just won’t come along when it comes to the mission of Christ. They attend church their whole lives and somewhere along the way it becomes about them. No longer is worship a time for getting our vision for mission filled, it has become about how good I can feel when I walk out at the end of the hour.
As I was driving back home last night, I began to think about what Todd and I spoke about and how that translates into why people won’t lead others. I would suggest that when the Church becomes more about us than others, we no longer have anything to lead others to. There are a few leaders throughout history who were able to lead others to an agenda all about them, but those always end tragically. Most of the time when we are selfish we don’t lead others because we don’t really care about where they are or where they need to go. We don’t worry more about the agenda of God than we do about our agenda.
Jesus reminded us while talking to one of the lawyers in the crowd…(Matt. 22:36-40)
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
People don’t lead because they don’t follow through with those two commands.
What do you think? What are other reasons people won’t lead?
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One response to “Why People Won’t Lead”
That certainly appears to be the nut of it, doesn’t it? Somewhere along the line, people have learned to leave well enough alone when it comes to faith. As a student of history, I notice the pattern of ‘innovate-stagnate.’
Innovation is the offspring of stagnation. The wagons circle, the habits are inbred and then a spirit of change is born. The 80% face inward, while the 20% look around the other side of the circle.
I don’t know why it has to get really bad before something really good happens, but that seems to be the pattern. MT 22 isn’t about either innovation or stagnation, though. Jesus is offering a way out of the whole action/reaction loop. He’s offering a lifestyle of kinetic worship: loving God and others more than you love yourself.
Nice circular comment, huh?