Pastor's Corner by Larry Tong
October, 2006
During this time every year, we are busy putting together a group of brothers and sisters to serve as church officers for the next two years. This year is no exception. While we are preparing to engage in new challenges for the upcoming year, and finishing up what needs to be done for the rest of this year, we also need to once again remind ourselves that ministries are not performance-based. This is particularly important for church leaders (officers) to remember.
I went to a Church Growth Conference one time and attended a special workshop in the area of “how to reduce stress in ministry.” I figured I needed to learn from the speaker with this kind of expertise. To my surprise, with the speaker was an assistant who acted like his personal attendant who followed and tended to his needs, including carrying his materials and putting his jacket on for him after he finished the workshop. What he said during the workshop made sense, but I could only look on with envy. I found myself thinking, if I had an assistant tending to all my personal needs, I probably wouldn’t have as much stress as I experience.
I’m not saying anything bad about the speaker, but serving in God’s eyes is very different from ours. The theme of the Gospel according to Mark is, “Jesus is the Humble Servant.” The author recorded Jesus relentlessly going from place to place addressing the needs of others. Jesus sought out the abandoned lepers, the sick and outcasts who longed to be accepted by society. If you want to know what ministry is all about, read Mark. Even our Lord, the God Incarnated, came to serve, and not to be served. How much more we should be as His disciples!
In our eyes, we measure “leadership greatness” by how successful we are in directing others, but in God’s eyes, “leadership greatness” is measured by the amount of love we have for others, and the willingness to roll up our sleeves and get “dirty” with others to do the “menial” jobs. Today, we measure success by the numbers of church attendance, by the size of the building, and by the variety of programs. This is quite a deviation from how God measures success. He measures success by the things we do for others. He looks for those who are willing to bend their knees to pick up a piece of litter that everyone else ignores on the floor or the kinds of work people often look upon as unimportant.
The road to greatness in God’s eyes is by way of self-forgetting. Jesus “forgot” and “forfeited” His place as God, and was therefore, willing to die on the cross so that you and I can walk on His cross to go to Heaven. As we are walking on His cross, let us not forget to bend our knees to feed the lambs of the flock, as Jesus commissioned Peter to do. Greatness is found in serving others with joy and love.
Before I sign off, I would like to encourage you to get involved in the
Pastor Larry
