If your idea is good – if it’s Biblical – you have the green light to proceed, right?
The answer to this question may not be easy to accept. The answer is, “No.”
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2
As living sacrifices, we have given over our will. The option to act unilaterally has been taken from us. Every thought and plan must be put on the sacrificial altar and exposed to the fire of God. After the fire, our thoughts and plans will be seen for what they truly are – wood, hay and stubble. Only once our affection for our good plans is dead can we experience the dependent fellowship with God necessary to “prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God.”
If the foundation of what we intend to build upon is Christ’s, we cannot build what we desire or even what we think He desires. If we do, we can build for years and years and it will still be for naught.
For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is {to be} revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
1 Cor. 3:11-15
Many Christians do many works. Biblical accounts of those who thought they were doing the work of God, but weren’t, abound. If we wonder if our ministry is one that will be counted as wood, hay or stubble, we should ask ourselves the following questions:
Did I seek the Lord for His will?
Did my burden for ministry come from the Lord or from my own fertile mind?
Was my interest in ministry a drive from within or a leading from without?
Do I often sense I am doing ministry in my own strength?
Does my ministry produce fruit that endures?
Does my fruit go on to bear more fruit without my involvement?
Do I use my ministry to treat my sense of uselessness or depression?
Do I use my ministry to find personal value?
Have I found myself praying less and less over my ministry?
Do those I minister to go to Christ or to me with their problems?
Do I feel overwhelmed by multiple responsibilities?
Do I feel confident and proud of my ministry?
Do I find myself often talking to other Christians about my ministry in an effort to motivate them by shaming them?
Sadly, our knowledge of good and evil is the source of most of what we call ministry. When the above symptoms are present, the Lord’s merciful hand will allow us to come to the end of our strength. We will feel weak, confused and disillusioned: burnt out. In the end, by His mercy, we will lose our affection for our knowledge of good and evil.
To those Brothers and Sisters experiencing ministry burnout:
The Lord will heal. The Lord will uproot and replant your vineyard with vines that produce His will. In this new vineyard, you will find all you need in the Tree of Life.Livin