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Creativity Quencher - 3
Jealousy
Although God has revealed to us that one of his names is Jealous (Exodus 34:14), when it comes to leadership in the church, jealousy of how God is using other churches is clearly wrong and jealousy in the life of a Christian much less a leader is not something God approves of (Romans 13:13, 1 Corinthians 3:3, 2 Corinthians 12:20, Galatians 5:19-21). “Why isn’t our church growing like church ABC” or “If we only did what church ABC did, I know our church would be bigger”. These are statements I’ve heard church leaders make in the privacy of their offices as I have been called upon as a church consultant in and outside of churches in America over the last couple of years. This focus on ‘product’ rather than on the process that God has brought a specific congregation through, is the ugly reality of consumerism in the church and its pastors (as we’ll take a look at in future posts). The motivation in these cases is rarely Kingdom growth (although that is how it’s often framed), but rather personal glory. Again, the leader of a congregation must realize that the answers to plan, purpose and destiny of their local church for which they are responsible can only be answered through prayer and seeking direction from God himself.
In the consulting situations I’ve been invited into when these type of comments are made, I’ve tried to help direct the pastor or church leader to consider that what is motivating them to ask their questions (jealousy) may just be the very thing that is standing in the way of them discovering the truly unique DNA of their church and pursuing it. I am convinced that wrong motivation in the heart of a leader is often the biggest ‘cork in the bottle’ to the growth and effectiveness of the churches they lead.
The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 gives clear understanding to the Kingdom reality that people (and church leaders and pastors) have capacities to handle what God has entrusted into their care (or to mismanage what they are responsible for). Are all pastors meant to lead mega-churches (over 2,000 in weekly attendance)? Or to be great Christian authors? Or to lead and oversee networks of churches? Or for that matter to even be the lead pastor of a church of 120? It seems the answer to each of these questions is , “NO”, nevertheless these issues are rarely ever considered in open hearted honesty before God. Couple Matthew 25 with the analogy of the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and the Scripture puts forth the understanding that there are different roles, responsibilities, capacities and sizes of the parts of the Body of Christ.
Questions to Consider:
- If you are a Sr. Pastor or Lead Pastor of a church, do you genuinely rejoice when another church in your local or community grows and has a greater impact in your community or do you find yourself pre-occupied with the need to point out what they could be doing better?
- How long has it been since you felt convicted by the Holy Spirit of an attitude in the heart (like jealousy) that no one else knew was in you?
- How well do you do in following the warning of Proverbs 4:23 when things are not going well in the church you lead while other churches seem to be doing well?
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