SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #176 ---- 5/21/01
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
As We fight The Good Fight In This New Millennium
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #176 ---- 5/21/01
Title: "Three Temptations of the Christian Leader"
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My Dear Friend and Partner in Ministry:
Did you ever get a haircut you didn't like? Something like having it cut
too short?
Well, I did this past Friday. Trying to think ahead and prepare adequately
for a month of ministry in Bosnia and Croatia, I asked the stylist to cut
the hair "just a little shorter than last time".
Apparently I didn't realize how short she had cut it "last time".
Now just what can you do about a "too short haircut"?
Well, here are some suggestions I thought of.
1. Face the humiliation like a man.
2. Pretend everything is alright and that it's not too short.
3. Tell everybody that's the way you wanted it in the first place.
4. Tell them you're trying to be relevant to the Balkan culture.
5. Get some gel like the contemporary hip people do, and either paste your
hair down like you just got out of the shower or spike it up like it's an
honest to goodness new style you're trying.
6. Try to pass yourself off as a youth evangelist.
7. Humble yourself, face the reality, and enjoy your assurance that, given
time, it's going to grow out and will be just about the right length when
you get home a month from now.
This past week has been one of great testing. I think it has something to
do with cutting things. Not only did my hair get cut too short, but my lawn
got cut hardly at all. In fact, I've been trying for over two weeks to get
my grass cut. It began back when our five grandchildren from Russia were
here. The three boys were so excited to think they were going to get to
drive the big riding mower.
Only problem was ---- the mower wouldn't start.
After they had gone home, and after some $80 in repairs, I learned it wasn't
a major problem as I had envisioned. It was just a bad connection with the
fuse. Bend it a little, and it ran like a new one.
Then the walking mower's starting mechanism got all fouled up so that the
cord would not recoil and the mower could not be started.
In the meantime, the grass continued to grow.
Finally last Friday both mowers were running, so, after being rained out the
rest of Friday, I hopped to it on Saturday. Got quite a bit done, in
fact ---- nearly an acre's worth of 16" tall grass mowed. Then it was time
to do a little trimming, so I switched to the walking mower, cranked it up,
and mowed ---- about 30 feet, when all of a sudden it let out the loudest
screech, the mower locked up and the starter cord wrapped itself around
itself.
So, off to the repairman again.
He was just closing up shop to take his wife to the dentist, but, being the
fine Christian gentleman he is, he took time to quickly repair the mower and
explain to me what had happened.
By this time it was after 5:00 in the evening, and I still had a long way to
go. So, I finished using the walking mower and my trimmer, and hopped back
on the riding mower to complete the job.
As I drove, the slight vibration I had been noticing for several weeks
seemed to increase both in intensity and in noise.
Finally, it was more than I dared risk, so I shut it down and began to
search for a possible problem. I knew there certainly was one somewhere.
And there was ---- a pulley (or its bearings) was wearing out.
So ---- that ended that ---- Saturday evening around 8:30, while trying to
get ready for Sunday services and this upcoming trip, I had to come to grips
with the fact that when it comes to cutting things, I may be under a curse.
First it is haircuts, and then it's lawn mowers.
I don't think I'll pick up a knife anytime soon.
Just too risky.
Other than that, it's been a great week. And, praise the Lord for Amy, who
cuts grass as a second job, and loves it.
PRAY FOR US:
Today's letter will be the last one I will write from the U.S. until June
26. May 28 and June 4 I will write from Sarajevo in Bosnia. June 11 I will
write from Rijeka, Croatia, and June 18 from Karlovac, Croatia. I always
look forward to these opportunities, because God seems to open up my heart
to some of His greatest wonders and some of His choicest followers on these
trips; and it's such a special treat to share some of those thoughts with
you.
So, pray for Jo Ann and me as we lead a team of eleven university students
to minister in Sarajevo, Novi Travnik, Zenica, Konjic, Dubrovnik, Rijeka,
Fuzine, Karlovac, Blata, Duga Resa, Plaski, and other places in the Balkans.
God is in the business of setting the stage for what I believe will be a
major spiritual breakthrough. I feel our trip is a significant part of that
process. We fully recognize that prayer support from you and others like
you is urgently needed and essential to successful ministry.
Thank you for praying, my friend. That means so much to us.
THREE TEMPTATIONS:
Last week I received the following article from my friend, Roger. Roger's
daughter has gone to Bosnia with us before, and is returning this week.
He's a good brother, and this article is not only a means of getting to bed
a little more quickly, but it really hits some practical realities that
Christian leaders face.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
3 Temptations of the Christian Leader
>By Kevin A. Miller
Temptations become even more difficult to resist when I don't recognize
them. Oh, sure, I can spot bank robbery and adultery and murder. But certain
evils fly in under my spiritual radar because they don't look evil; they
look like something good. It takes spiritual discernment to realize that
something I eagerly want and pursue may actually destroy or weaken me and my
ministry.
The late Henri Nouwen names three such temptations in his insightful book,
In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership:
1. The temptation to be relevant.
2. The temptation to be popular by doing something remarkable.
3. The temptation to be powerful in your leadership; to lead rather than be
led.
This week you and I probably will be sent brochures promoting conferences
that will help us and our churches do precisely this: become relevant, do
something remarkable, and lead boldly. Such conferences offer many helpful
insights, and I've benefited from some. But pause and reflect on the fact
that Jesus regularly refused to do miracles on demand (John 6:26-31), that
he asked many of the people who did receive his miracles not to talk about
them (Mark 5:41-43), that he said some things almost certain to drive people
away (John 6:53, 60, 61). And ultimately he was led away, like a
lamb to the butcher.
I don't like those facts. I want to be relevant, a leader who does something
remarkable. The question is, Why?
The answer, if I can peer through the murky silt and see the bottom of my
spirit, is that I want to be liked, noticed, significant. I thought my
drives were all about ministry for God, but it turns out they're only a
little about God and a whole lot about me.
As Nouwen puts it simply and piercingly: "The question is not: How many
people take you seriously? How much are you going to accomplish? Can you
show some results? But: Are you in love with Jesus?"
Do I love Jesus? Really? If the answer is "mostly" or "somewhat," what has
displaced my first, full love? Maybe a desire to be a Christian leader who
does something relevant and remarkable.
But if the answer to "Do I love Jesus?" is an unqualified yes, then no
matter how uncertain and frustrated I am, no matter how insignificant and
unremarkable the current ministry, God will one day tell me, with equal
certainty, "Well done!"
Kevin A. Miller is editor at large of Leadership Journal
FINALLY:
Powerful stuff, wouldn't you say!
Have a great week my friend, victoriously resisting those three temptations.
Lord Jesus, hide both of us behind the Cross, and don't let us come out this
week.
In His Bond,
Bob Tolliver ---- (Rom 1:11-12)
Copyright May, 2001. All rights reserved.
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Hang in there! I'm with you!
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