Ever found yourself in a situation like this? You’re tempted.  You want to look at that image, vent criticism, gossip, cross that line, bend the truth, or whatever it is your flesh wants to indulge in.  But you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit saying, “Don’t go there!” Maybe you don’t hear a voice but you know it’s wrong.  Right about then, that other voice kicks in saying, “He’ll forgive you.”  Somewhere in the back of your mind you assure yourself of the mercy of God and it comforts you to know that He’ll still love and forgive you if you choose to do the wrong thing… and that comfort usually leads to the wrong decision.

I think sometimes when we struggle with a pattern of sin (secret or public) the answer can simply be found in how we view Jesus.  If we stop at Savior, we’re missing so much of what He has for us. We have to accept and view Him as Lord, King, Giver of Life, Best Thing of All!  When we approach him simply as a free ticket to heaven, mere fire insurance, we miss out.  Plain and simple.  He’s so much more and when we give Him Lordship, we receive that abundant life He spoke of.  In the end, it’s not so much of a sin problem as it is a Lordship problem.  Lordship leads to who and what we bend our lives around.

How do you view Jesus?  A.W. Tozer once wrote  “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  How you view Jesus will change how you live, where you live, and whether you truly live but you have to want more than simply a forgiveness dispenser.

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.” – Philippians 3:8-9a

* My apologies to all those who commented on this post.  I lost it during maintenance and had to repost it.  Feel free to comment again!

Let’s face it, if you’re doing effective ministry, the devil hates it.  In fact, he hates YOU.  Leaders have a whole gang of enemies they must face in order to keep moving forward.  It’s not an easy job and there are perils around every corner.

If the enemy can’t get you to throw in the towel, he’ll find ways of rendering you fruitless.  Oftentimes leaders aren’t even aware of their impotence until it’s too late.  It’s a subtle, crafty tactic for sure but highly effective.  I wrote in an earlier post about The Deadly Duo of pride and insecurity.  Today I’d like to expose a few more of these nasties.  I call them the Toxic Trio.

Self Preservation – The enemy of vision.  When times seem lean, the temptation is to program to keep people comfortable and coming back.  Instead of taking risks, and dreaming big, we filter our decisions to keep the money happy. Afraid of losing people (and finances and favor), we start thinking inward instead of reaching outward.  This is downright deadly because we forfeit the future when we stop having faith.

Routine – The enemy of innovation.  Don’t get me wrong.  Some routine is good.  The problem arises when we elevate our routine to a place that robs us of opportunity.  For example, we skip a great training opportunity because it falls on sermon prep day or during the time when we normally do hospital visitation.

We also have a tendency to lather, rinse, and repeat our programming long past the expiration date.  Listen to those around you when they start suggesting new ideas.  It usually means your program is losing it’s impact, even if it is still fun for you to do.

Control – The enemy of empowering leadership.  This one is huge and really deserves its own post.  We really like to be in control and some leaders like to make sure everyone knows they’re in control.  They ignore suggestions, hold on to roles they should have let go of a long time ago, and obsess over certain tasks for fear they won’t get done right.

Controlling leaders may get what they want, but before long they’re getting it alone.  This demoralizing style of leadership usually drives away a lot of quality team members.

Have you ever seen yourself tackling one of these toxic traits?  I know I have, many times.  What’s a leader to do?  Well, rather than giving you the old 1, 2, 3 bullet points, I just have one word for you, “TRUST“.

It’s important that we learn to trust God when times are tough.  Keep dreaming, don’t sink inward.  Believe that where God guides, He provides.  Trust that He’ll help to redeem the time when we step out of the routine to grow and try new things.  You were made to grow, not simply maintain.  Trust your team to do their best when they take a project.  If God put you together, He really did know what He was doing.  Trusting those serving with you empowers them and helps them to grow.  That’s worth the risk of a job not getting done right any day!

Just trust!

“those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.” – Psalm 34:10b

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In our culture, it’s so easy to become caught up in the game of appearances.  What does my car say about me?  What about my house?  Am I perceived as successful?  Smart?  Or do people see me as needy?  Do I look like I’ve made some bad decisions along the way or am I a success story in the eyes of my community?  What about my clothes?  Do they reflect my social status (or make me look even better?)

Funny how we care so much about our social standing.  We love the preferred treatment.  It’s nice to be able to go straight to the front of the line, sit in the green room, be recognized, be served.  There’s a pecking order, and we like to be at the front of it.

It’s not hard to tell who’s at the front of the pecking order either.  Celebrities receive special treatment and are often treated to complimentary you name it.  The CEO gets the best parking spot, and the good-looking get the benefit of the doubt.  They are the greatest in our culture, the kings and queens of western society and we play along as we work extra hours, bend the truth to sell more and motivate ourselves with GQ and Car and Driver.

Then there’s Jesus.  Wham!  The King of Kings, the famous one.  The most influential man to ever walk the planet (after He created it).  He comes along and declares a new system.  In Luke 9:48 he says, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me also welcomes my Father who sent me. Whoever is the least among you is the greatest.”

That’s it!  We have a new standard for greatness!  The least are now great.  The poor are deserving of attention.  The needy are to be honored and the sick are to be loved.  What more needs to be said?  We now have the tremendous privilege of serving those whom Jesus stuck with, stood up for, and identified with.

When you see Jesus begging today, give Him something.  When you see Him in Africa, Asia, and India honor Him.  When you see him sick with AIDS or living on the street, welcome Him.  He’s The Greatest.

*I originally posted this on the Worldhope.us blog.  A great organization helping those in extreme poverty.  Check them them out at www.worldhope.us.