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“Emo” Gospel
Have you ever sat in on a small group and heard someone talk about how they feel guilty because they are enjoying the jobs they are doing in the church?
This has happened in my presence on many occasions and it has made me really think about the issue of joy in this world. I realize that in the Christian life we endure times of trials and hardships and that we will be put in places where it may be hard to really understand God’s plan for our lives. During times like these it can be hard to find joy and we can get really down on ourselves, but it’s also a time where we grow the most in our spiritual lives. God likes to use the hard times to speak to us. He spoke to Joseph when he was in prison as an innocent man. He spoke to Moses when he left his high position of authority in Egypt because he murdered a guy. He spoke to Paul while he was in prison for the gospel. He gave John the Revelation while he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos.
But what about the times when things are going great? Is it wrong for us to happy about where we are and what we are doing in ministry? Am I supposed to feel guilty every time I preach because it is something that I thoroughly enjoy doing? In light of Father’s Day, is it wrong for a Dad to be proud of his children because they are leading Godly lives? This can be a hard subject to deal with, but if we approach it the wrong way we can live out an “Emo” or “depressed” sort of gospel.
I think the answers to all of these questions is, “Yes” and “No”.
Let’s start with the “No” - (1) It is not wrong for us to be happy where we are at as long as we recognize that we are where we are by the Grace of God.
Ephesians 2:4 says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.”
Just before this passage Paul is talking about how the Ephesians were once dead in their old lives w/o Christ. Now though, we are made alive in Him. This means that we are allowed to experience joy in ministry as long as we recognize that it only comes from Him. Are you giving Him the credit?
(2) It is not wrong for us to be happy where we are as long as we are doing it for something other than ourselves.
In Philippians, Paul talks about how “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill” (Phil. 1:15). It is all about the motives peeps. Are you doing ministry for your own self-esteem boost or are you doing it because you know that God will be glorified? Are you doing it for the goodwill of yourself or for the goodwill of God and others?
(3) Finally, as we learned in Spiritual Gift Training last night, God has given us all gifts and abilities. We are given them in order to preach the gospel to the world. When we use them, two things happen: Fruitfulness and Fulfillment (This idea is not my own but rather from Rick Warren’s S.H.A.P.E. spiritual gifts test/seminar). We receive fulfillment in using our gifts for Christ’s mission and this should drive us to live out His Great Commission with Joy in our hearts!
“Yes”
I think we have pretty well covered the bases on the “Yes” portion of this entry, but let’s make sure to focus on one more piece of scripture here.Yes, it can be wrong to be happy where you are at, if you are only happy about what it is doing for you. It’s not about you. It’s about the expansion of the Kingdom of God, not your own ego-boost.
Philippians 2:3 - “Do nothing out of self ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” In all of our ministries, we are to live in such a way that we give of ourselves, rather than try to feed our egos. I’ll admit that many times I find myself receiving a bit of an ego-boost. It is never my intention, but sometimes it happens. In these times, I have to check my spirit and I ask God to check my spirit as well.
I think Christ wants us to be confident in who he made us to be, but to also realize that we have more growing to do than we could ever imagine. If you continue on in Philippians 2:4 Paul says, “Each of you should not only look to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (bold added). It is okay to look to our interests and giftedness and use that with all that we have, but we also need to make sure that we are not selfishly doing things for our own ego-boosts. It is possible to be “righteously confident” in who Christ made us to be.
As a pastor, I am going to enjoy my job. I already know that I am going to. I am going to enjoy sharing the Word with my congregation. I am going to enjoy serving God. I am going to enjoy the learning. I am going to enjoy throwing the towel over my arm and serving. I already do! There is nothing wrong with that as long as I recognize that it is only from Christ that I receive that joy. As long as I am not doing it of my own ambitions. Otherwise, I just start spreading an “Emo” Gospel that is never happy. Who wants to be part of a church where everyone is depressed all the time? The church is there to bring us Joy by bringing us closer to God.
Christ gives us eternal Joy! How awesome is that?!
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” - Paul
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My Story
So I finished Donald Miller’s book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, last night and really enjoyed it a lot. I have read his first crazy famous book, Blue Like Jazz, and found it to just be alright. There were a lot of points in that book that seemed really sketchy about some different things in his theology. But this book really got me thinking and I enjoyed a lot of the stories and how he illustrated his relationship with God throughout the entire book.
The whole book is about how our lives are like a story or a movie. The book starts off talking about how these two film directors come to Don’s house and want to film a movie about one of his books. He uses this idea of this biographic movie as the base in the book. The directors/writers explain what story in a movie is all about. They pick it apart piece by piece as they get together with Don and write this movie script/storyline. His whole point in the book though, is that if you want to live out a good story, you have to put yourself into one. You have to force yourself out of your comfort zone and ask God to bless whatever it is that you are doing to live a great story in life.
I hope that in my ministry, God forces me to live an epic story. I hope that I have the courage to live out a great story in all the things I do as I move throughout life and grow and mature. One thing that I am learning on this internship is that I have a lot of that to do, growing and maturing. It is tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes, but I think in life there is only light at the end of the tunnel for a second before you enter into another tunnel. Donald Miller wrote that there really is no climax to our lives here on earth, only more stories to be lived out (implying that the climax will either be in heaven or hell).
So that is my prayer for today and hopefully my prayer for my entire life and future ministries. I pray that I would always be humble enough to let God take the reins and drive me into the epic story He has planned for my life. I pray that I can be humble enough to swallow my pride when the story seems to stoop and then also have enough courage to take leaps when the story comes to a high point. I want to live out an epic story.
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Finally Blogging…
Okay, I’m just going to be real about this. It was my idea to start a blog along with my friend Jerry and I’ve epically failed at it. So I’m going to finally blog today in hopes to maybe redeem myself a little bit.
Steph and I are about to take a big step in our lives and I’ll admit: I’m nervous, scared, anxious, uncomfortable, excited, happy, and pumped all at the same time. I guess it’s safe to say that my emotions are so mixed up today it’s unbelievable. We did get a call from them today though, and they are setting up our office (this is awesome! :D). We’re headed to Brockville, ON. We’ll be working at Centennial Road Church. We’ve got an apt. there already free of rent while we’re there and now an office as well. This is just one step that we are taking in the next year though.
The next step after getting to our internship and plugging into the church is having the baby! Oh my gracious we’re havin’ a friggin’ baby!!! How crazy is that?! Granted I’ve had about 3 months to get used to that idea now… There are so many times that I have just stopped and thought…wow…We’re having a baby! It’s crazy. I’m pumped about it but also nervous that I’m going to epically fail as a Dad. I pray that my kids aren’t as screwed up as me…lol. It’s cool though.
Before we found out Steph was preggo I would think: ‘I wonder what it’s like to have that “Father’s Love” for a child. I wonder what it feels like. Is it really that different?’ Well, now that Steph IS preggo and I’m going to be a Dad…there’s something inside me. This love that matches no other love I’ve felt before. There’s an undying love inside me that I’ve already got for that unborn child…and it’s awesome. If anything, whether I screw that kid up or not, I’m going to love it with all I got. To feel this love makes me wonder how crazy God’s love is for us. He’s OUR Father. He must love us like…like…psycho, crazy, a lot! LOL. God’s so awesome!
And those aren’t the only two major steps we’ll be taking in the next year. After the internship and the baby (which is supposed to be due in October), we will be Graduated from college and going into full-time ministry! No more papers, no more professors, no more assigned readings, no more Deans! Nothing! I will have made it through my Bachelor’s Degree! That is nuts to think about! (Do I have enough exclamation points in this blog?)
So overall, I’m feeling crazy about this next year of my life. But something inside me is just telling me it’s going to be okay. Something inside me is saying that we will pull through. Jesus is telling my heart that He is in control and that God will never let me down as long as I stick with Him.
In conclusion, I’m looking at this next year our lives as an adventure. And I can’t wait to jump in the car to start it all. :) I know that this next year is going to be crazy…crazy awesome!
Prayer: I pray I can grow closer to God this next year. I pray my wife will grow closer to God. I pray Steph and I can grow closer together. I pray my child will live in God’s Grace and will take God as his/her leader/guide. I pray that I can be a good father. I pray that I can be a good pastor. I pray that I can be a good husband.
Today’s postives: Packing is done for the day and we find out what the baby is on Friday! Oh yeah, and I finally blogged!
Peace - Rob
