Why do YOU do what you do?

Sometimes I forget why I do what I do. Now, as I say that and as I think about the direction that this post might take, I know that the form of it won’t necessarily reach you in the way that you like to be spoken to.

Some of you like it when a preacher or author tells you how it is, puts you in your place and reminds you of how far you have fallen short of the glory of God. You enjoy getting hit square in the teeth. Others among you really like to get into the theological details behind a matter. You like a ton of references and seeing in detail how our issues are linked intricately with the simple and profound message of the Gospel.

The truth is, I really don’t know the ways in which you have fallen short of the glory of God, so I really don’t know how to speak on your condition. I could hit you square in the face if that’s what you really want, but you’d have to give me the pertinent information. If theology is your game, what I say next might challenge you. Life IS theology, if you are discerning enough to recognize it for what it is. The day to day workings of our lives are delicately and completely interwoven with spiritual truth. That is why God didn’t inspire a book of doctrine. He inspired His written word which is made up primarily of stories about how He has worked among His people throughout the ages.

I’ve really been questioning why I do what I do in His service. Why bother? When I reflect on the question, there are any number of reasons why what I do is a waste of time. First of all, there are so many others out there who are so much better at communication spiritual truth than I am. Many of you are more than aware of the fact. Be honest, there are other preacher guys who light your fire much better than I do. Aren’t there?

John McArthur is so much better at saying it how it is. Ray Comfort evangelizes so much more effectively that I do. I’ve only been involved directly in making 3 disciples over the past 9 years. I know that most of you are batting much better than that. I’m happy for you. I really am. In my own church, we are so blessed to have other godly teachers who communicate the truth of the Gospel so much more effectively than me.

Would I not be more effective if I just shut my yap and posted Facebook links to In Touch Ministries, or better yet, Jack Van Impe Presents? Standing in the background, I’ll hear conversations like this one,
“Hi Mary Jane. I went to this Christian convention on the weekend and you should have heard the speaker. They were SO dynamic. God really spoke to me through them.”

So why bother? Maybe the best that I can do is to get out of the way. There is just enough truth in that line of thinking to tempt an individual to abandon his or her calling.

It’s rather pathetic really. I’m this pouting child having a tantrum
screaming, “If I can’t be the best at what I do, then I shouldn’t even bother.” Who really wants to be second rate at anything? I guess what happens is that even as we live out our faith in whichever form He compels us, we have in mind what a proper Christian ministry should look like.

For example –
The people who work in the inner cities – They are the ones who are really doing the work of Christ.

Or – the people who find new tribes in Africa and teach them God’s word in their native tongue – they are the ones who are really doing the work of the Gospel.

Or – The guy on CNN who held firm that Jesus is the only way – he’s the one who is really about The Lord’s business.

As for me, the faith that I have been called to live really doesn’t count. Teaching Sunday school to upper middle class suburbians really doesn’t count. Wasting my life away in some factory, sponsoring a Compassion child or missionary doesn’t count. Pastoring a church on the edge of a small town really doesn’t count and fighting to keep a small country church on its feet doesn’t count either. Raising a family and pointing them towards Christ doesn’t count and neither does it count when we love our wives in the same way as Christ loved the Church.

My conscience may never be completely satisfied with my call, but I have done what I could. Maybe that doesn’t describe it accurately enough, because in truth, I (we) always could have done more. In order to phrase it a little more accurately, here it is;

I did what I knew I had to do.
And so, once again I revisit why I do what I do; not for fame, fortune or notoriety. This is it.

I believed in God, so I spoke.


(By the way – for us hardcore Evangelicals – how many disciples have you made and baptized in 2010 so far? Ten? One? None? Are you a failure then? Disobedient to the call?)