So recently our church has gone through several changes, a lot of them in the music ministry. As expected, when new staff comes in, there will be change. There is always renewed vision, purpose, and processes. I am no exception. The Lord has brought me to Hickory Grove for a purpose and my response is to carry that out, no matter the cost.
Now we have invested a lot of resources (time, energy, etc) into a lot of people over the past several years as a ministry (worship), many of which are no longer a part due to their desires. Sometimes I look at things selfishly and say,"where are they now? After all that we did for them, this is what happens?!" I have heard that said in many churches and found myself saying these exact words. I understand that not all situations end appropriately, but we will be held accountable by our actions, not theirs. I realize that if we want a return on our investments to benefit us, then we are in the wrong. Our investments are not for our selfish good, but for the good of the Kingdom. We are saying that by no returns, our kingdoms suffer. News flash, our kingdoms don't matter. Sometimes it is hard to see the big picture when you are surrounded, I get that. But nevertheless, we should invest in people
1) because God asks us to and
2)as leaders we should always be moving forward with people. (Great Commission Matt 28).
The world stops at nothing to get returns that benefit themselves. This is obvious in our culture today.We should want to invest because it makes disciples for Jesus not us.
So next time you experience change, remember the people that are involved and invested.
You are always leading people somewhere. The destination is what matters the most.
just some scattered conversations that I sometimes overhear myself saying…
-G-
Daniel
January 14, 2010 at 11:20 am
yea- leaders see so many who they invest in come and go because they cannot see the big picture. in the same reguards, those on the other end can have the selfish though of “where are they now” for the leader that followed for so many years. but the big picture would be are they following the leader, or the God who directs the leading.another unrelated thought is aniversary’s for people in ministry. some people stay in a place there whole lives and are honored at benchmarks- God has called them to that and they are faithfull in Gos’s calling to faithfullness. the people also honor them. what about the one’s who are called to different places? the minister who has been in ministry for 30 years at different churches. i believe he has had the same faithfullness to God. if the church is really one bid picuture, your ministry in different place should be cummunalative. well, i gues that’s what heaven’s rewards are for.
Fran
January 15, 2010 at 11:29 am
Hey – have been thinking about this post since I first read it. I know as lay person – you rarely get to see where the people you work with end up – especially if they are youth. That is about the only thing I love about facebook – is seeing all of you guys that we invested time in really serving God. It is kind of like raising kids – you raise them to be independent and work yourself out of a job – But at the same time it is hard not to look at what we count as “failures”. We have to continually remind ourselves that we are only to do as God leads and those we are influencing have their own decisions to make. On a side note – I love reading your insights. Hope some day our paths will cross again.