It’s a truth we can’t afford to neglect.
The more public your ministry, the more prone you are to fall.
The greater success you experience, the greater your tendency to sabotage what matters.
The hymn writer captured it with brilliance: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.”
It’s ironic, isn’t it?
God anoints us. God uses us. God works miracles through us. Yet we allow what God has done to prop up our ego and claim attention for ourselves.
Guard Your Heart
Sometimes I wonder if God doesn’t bless us with more influence because He knows the influence will kill us.
Sometimes I wonder if my character can handle more success.
That’s why as a worship leader, pastor, teacher, prophet, or evangelist, you need to guard your heart. Nothing is more important.
If you’re not intentional about guarding your heart, every manner of selfish ambition will break in and poison your effectiveness.
A couple days ago, a buddy of mine posted a picture of his grandparents on Facebook. It was this one you see on the left.
63 years married. Amazing. I’m sure their journey has been far from perfect, but this is an incredible testimony to what truly matters in life.
As you seek to expand your influence and grow your reach, make sure you have a plan in place to guard your heart.
The quality of your public ministry is determined by the consistency of your private integrity.
How Do You Answer These 5 Questions?
Here are some questions to guide you:
1. Does my spouse believe my heart is at home? – Nothing will reveal the status of your ministry more than what your spouse has to say. I don’t care what you think the answer to this question is. Ask your spouse.
Get honest feedback about where your heart is. If your family doesn’t have your heart, time, and attention, your life is out of balance.
2. Am I making deposits into my sexual purity every day? – Sexual purity isn’t about willpower in the moment. It’s the culmination of many small decisions. It’s about preparing yourself to respond to temptation appropriately.
Are you seeking God every day? Are you dating your spouse? Make a deposit every day.
3. Does my private integrity match my public passion? – I know my ministry is off kilter if I’m passionate in front of people yet bored to tears when I’m alone with God. True effectiveness flows from the secret place – from a heart awakened to the beauty of God.
4. Am I investing myself in the development of others? – No matter how far you go, ministry will always be about releasing others. Investing in others. Who are you raising up?
5. Am I faithful with the small things? – A successful ministry isn’t about the crowds, the accolades, and a booked schedule. It’s about managing your finances well. It’s about leading and loving your family. It’s about doing chores at home. Don’t neglect the small.
I’ve seen too many pastors draw a crowd, yet lose their children. Ministers whom everyone loves, yet have no respect from their spouses.
Focus your attention on the less-glamorous. It’s where you’ll find Jesus.
Question: If there was one word you wanted your ministry to be known for, what would it be? Share your answer in the comments. It’s always better when you share!
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Photo Credit: Milos Milosevic (Flickr)
Totally agree, If you wanna know the truth about someone, ask the spouse or better still, the mother-in-law 😉
You can draw people with the flashy, but you cannot keep them without integrity.
Good point, Gangai. It’s all about integrity…and having a GREAT mother in law 🙂
Good stuff David. #4 is what God has been hammering me with for months now. I’ve been praying and asking God who He wants me to invest in … specifically, beyond the broad platform. Not sure I have the answer yet, but I’m seeking.
God bless you man!
I’m in the same season, Fred. I’m sure you’ve invested in a lot of people over the years, right? I’ll bet there’s someone just waiting to glean from you, but you just don’t notice yet.
One word that I would like my ministry to be known for for is Authentic…if people see me and are still drawn to Christ, then I know that in the end…it’s not me.
So solid, Errol. Love it.
My word to have the ministry be remembered by is “Refreshing”. I want people to feel like the service is relevant and an escape from the business of life where they can focus in on Christ. I want people to feel that they are daily being refreshed in their walk and relationship with Christ. To have people refer to our ministry as “Refreshing” would fill my heart with joy and reaffirm that we are running a ministry for and through Christ.
Ummmm, wow, where can I start this time my friend, very strong points you make. I agree because we sometimes get caught up in trying to do our best for God during our worship that we forget that there are small things around us that raise up a better praise to God. We need to ask God to ancher us to what is most important to Him, our wives, our children, our parents, our relatives and our friends/acquaintances. And we can only achieve this thru our private times with Him. Its in our one-on-one with Him that we are filled with this anointing and when we are faced with the given situation that He reminds us automatically of what we must do first. If you dont think God is listening, spend quality time with Him and you’ll begin to see great things happen in your life, you’ll be amazed.
Its the key to be able to follow every point that you listed above…So for all who follow the comments posted. Try it and let God work in your lives.
This comment was refreshing.
David, #1 and #2 are so closely connected, but some thoughts on #1. Musicians are a strange lot. After denying it for decades, I finally admitted it. I am strange. If you are a worship leader, and musician admit it, you also are slightly off. But, king David was also a musician! What do I mean by off? The ability to get lost in something. I could go on, but this one thing will help me make my point. Everyone has the ability to get lost in something, but musicians do it willingly for hours daily. It is easy to fall into escapism and lose touch with reality. Even if it is for worship. That’s what we do when we practice alone. We attempt to close out reality. It is largely true that opposites attract. That aloof quality is often attractive to a non musician.(Go figure.) The two fall in love and get married. Now they live together 24/7. What originally was a somewhat attractive quality occasionally, is now daily, very threatening. “Excuse me dear, while I journey into my own little world for several hours, where you can not come and be a part. I am deciding to leave you behind now, I will contact you when I return.” Now lets add a greater insult.
“Excuse me dear, I am choosing to leave you now, for the company of other people, while we connect and make music. Don’t wait up.”
We don’t say it, but we do it. The non musician spouse may not say it, but they feel it. They may not even understand it, but they experience it. The spouse sees the musician as having fun, being fulfilled and connecting with other people and they can’t be a part. It takes time for them to adjust. Sometimes years. You must do whatever is necessary to slowly dissolve their insecurity. You MUST connect with them and make them feel special in other ways. You must NEVER feed their doubt. Occasionally, plan a date where the spouse knows you gave up practice time to be with them. The tension is, if you give it all up, you give up music. This great compromise must be worked out. But investing in your spouse is never wrong. This tension if worked through properly, will in the long run, give you a loving understanding spouse, a fan, a supporter, and mentor all in one person. David, what a great question. Does your spouse believe your heart is at home? Someone told me once that musicians only have three places to get their time to practice. Steal it from their job, steal it from their sleep, or steal it from their family. I am self employed, so my boss can’t complain, but I have done all three. My lovely wife keeps me semi-sane and marginally connected to reality. She is the single greatest blessing in my life.
Hank Williams sang a song. ” I’m tired of playin’ second fiddle to an old guitar.” If Hank sang it, there has to be truth in it !!
Don, there’s so much wisdom here. So have you and your wife worked through these issues? Is there mutual understanding now?
Like you said before, it is a tension to be managed. She begins to drop hints when she thinks I am beginning to be selfish with my time. But she also understands that it is at the core of who I am, and at the center of everything I do. We are different personalities, but we come from very similar backgrounds and world views. We both gave our lives to Christ at a fairly young age. We have had very few disagreements in our married life. We have two grown children, both of which are professional musicians. I think my wife gained a greater understanding of me as she watched our kids mature and become musicians. They are MY back-story she missed before we met.
I think she adjusted more than I did. But, she is flexible and pragmatic. How many musicians can you hang that description on? The are two types of musicians. Those who know they are weird, and those who have not admitted it yet.
David, I would like to hear the story of 2 musicians that have been married a long time. A completely different dynamic.
That would definitely be interesting. Maybe someone will chime in with that experience?
My husband and I haven’t been married a long time at all, but we are both musicians and share the worship ministry leadership equaly (most of the time :-). I can completely imagine how there can develop a sense of neglect when it comes to a non musical spouse. Not only is there the ministry pull, but as you mentioned, music itself is its own pull. We are careful to preserve our time together. Sometimes our musical creativity goes in different directions and that can be challenging.
Joe and I have already seen several marriages unravel of our friends. We’ve spent many nights asking, “Why them and not us?” Hopefully, at some point we can anser this question with a little more time under out belt. For now, the only true explanation of why is that we keep our personal relationships with God in check. Then our marriage, the kids, then the ministry. We know that if we fight to keep our relationship with God in check, it will have a trickle down effect on everything else…
To answer the question… ‘Gospel’.
That about sums it up for me.
A Gospel-centered life. Yes!
If there was one word you wanted your ministry to be known for, what would it be?
I’d have to say: JESUS!
“Come Thou Fount” is one of my absolute favorite songs. I think it is one of the greatest songs in the tradition of Christian music. I grew up reading the King James Bible. The sentence structure and rhyming scheme of the song is more modern than Elizabethan English but antiquated compared to modern English. The music has a certain Celtic quality. The too merged to together make a song that has deserved to last for centuries. Robert Robinson (1735-1790) was a unique character in English Church history. My favorite line though, is the answer to the one you quoted.
” Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above”
So much good stuff here. The truth is we can’t just pick out #1 or #4 to succeed at and let the rest of them go. It’s imperative that each of these be of utmost importance in our lives. To fail at any would severely impair our witness, family, leadership, and soul. God help us to see the importance of a life led by the Spirit.
Good stuff, Gregg. I agree!