Ministry Success and Obedience
Have you ever had one of those moments where the Bible just wrecks you? I mean wrecks you in such a way that you find yourself spinning for the rest of the day. Today was one of those days for me. As I was listening to my Bible in the car (which is wonderful for me because I travel a lot), I came across a passage that I have read, taught and preached on a large number of times. But this time, for me, a new truth came across.
But before I get to the passage, let's talk shop! Doing ministry in today's world is hard. It's unbelievable, that in the culture we live in, with so many resources, that technology can actually hurt you. I love social media! I love seeing people be connected and in conversations about life, ministry and the world we live in. I use them all…. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many more. For us, we have actually had new connections for ministry because of social networking. The bad part of social networking is we can become deceived with what is really going on with people. Let's be honest, we only put what we really want people to know about us. And even beyond that, for myself, I can see jealousy and envy creeping into my life if I don't guard my heart. I can see these high profile ministry leaders, see there interactions, see all their perceived success and begin to ask myself the question, "What is wrong with me?" These people must be doing it right and I'm not! These people must be truly following God that pales in comparison to myself. But I know, if I were to sit-down with any of them, they probably would show me a side of them that many don't think about. Their churches have problems. They don't do everything right. But the problem I find, it in my mind I can equate MINISTRY SUCCESS WITH OBEDIENCE.
Now back to the passage I eluded to earlier. So I'm in Numbers 20 with a passage that has been all to familiar with me. Like I said before, I have used it in so many contexts within my ministry.
2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
Here is what stood out to me! Here we have Moses doing something pretty incredible. I'm not sure last time you tried to get water from a rock but I'm guessing it didn't go very well. The crazy thing is, as you look at the text. Moses was failing to obey and honor God in the situation. I'm not really sure why God chose to continue to do something miraculous in that situation. I mean, if I was God, I would have let Moses hit the rock and have nothing happen, but he didn't, he used Moses even in his disobedience. MINISTRY SUCCESS DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUAL OBEDIENCE! Now can it? Yes! But what we must realize is, they are not always tied together. The think the warning on the other end is just as valid. If we do have ministry success, to look around and think that we are doing something right and others are not is a slippery slope that is dangerous. Look at all these miracles! Look at how many people are coming! Look at how much influence I have! The problem is, even God moved through Moses and he was ultimately punished for disobeying God.
So I translate that into my own life. I look at these high profile ministry leaders, because they have a big ministry does that mean they are obeying God? Maybe… maybe not! Because Joe Pastor has a small church does it mean he is not obeying God? Maybe… maybe not! What we need to realize is, those two principles are not always connected.
So what is our job? I would argue that OBEDIENCE is our job. If we have a big ministry or small, high profile influence or not, if 1000 people comment on our Facebook posts or none, our job is obedience. We need to be faithful to obey God and leave any ministry success up to Him. I would be willing to bet anyway, we are going to get to heaven someday and find out the God's standard for ministry success was ultimately different than ours.
Andy Abramson (Director of Verge Ministries)