Faithfulness

There are few things a pastor or spiritual leader fears more than apathy. (And if we’re wise, we fear it creeping into our own hearts as much as we fear it undermining the spiritual growth of those we lead.)

None of us start out in leadership with the intention of failing. But we all know people who have disgraced the Lord and hurt the people they lead through unfaithfulness. We all want, when we come to the end of our race, to be able to say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

What can be done after a revival to maintain the sense of revival once we are back to our regular routine? If you sense that God did a work in your heart during revival, and you want to keep that place and not regress, here are some suggestions:

One of the greatest dangers a Christian or a church will encounter is “complacency.” Jesus warned the Laodicean Church about their spiritual complacency. They became complacent in their own spiritual development and service for the Lord.

Interestingly, the word “corruption” in this text speaks of rotting garbage. When we allow our flesh to dictate our life and allow sinful aspects to overrun us—mark it down—it is like stinking up a life, and nothing stinks worse than rotting garbage. The garbage dump is definitely not a place where I want to live.

I can’t think of anyone who had more trials and battles than the Apostle Paul. I also can’t think of anyone who finished better than he finished. However, if we believe what most writers tell us, very few spiritual leaders finish well.

In early 1940 the British and their allies sent a force of some 350,000 men into the low countries of Europe to stem the tide of German advance into France, Belgium, and Holland. Caught in a brilliant pincer movement by the invading German forces, the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force was pushed back to the beaches of the small Belgian town of Dunkirk.

In America we have been so profoundly blessed as a nation, that we sometimes forget how incredible our blessings are and the magnitude of the liberties we enjoy every day.

When Paul wrote his final letter to Timothy, he included a request for Timothy to come to him. Notice his wording: “Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me” (2 Timothy 4:9). Paul didn’t say, “Come if you get a chance.” He asked Timothy to invest focused effort—diligence—in coming.

It’s hard to believe that we are already entering another summer season of ministry. Depending on your occupation and age, the word summer likely holds varying connotations for you. If you are a student, it means vacation! If you are a teacher, it means preparation. If you are a farmer, it means work.

This year marks my twentieth year to pastor what researchers call a megachurch—a church averaging over two thousand people in weekly attendance. Statistics on pastoral tenure in churches suggest that for a pastor to remain twenty-eight years in the ministry, let alone in one church, is unusual—especially when twenty of those years are overflowing with the needs of a large congregation.

These statistics speak to the realities of stress, weariness, and emptiness that are part of serving people. But not every pastor falls by the wayside of statistics. So what is the difference between a pastor who becomes a statistic and a pastor who presses on through the struggles and completes his race still in the ministry?

The early life and ministry of Jesus Christ drew many followers. One might suppose that some of these were following because of His powerful miracles. Anyone who could turn water into wine by speaking a word (John 2) or cause a man to walk after thirty-eight years of being bed ridden (John 5) or feed five thousand with five loaves and two fish (John 6) was certainly worth a listen.

For years I have written and spoken against being contentious. Yes, I’ve contended against contentiousness! A contentious, always-in-a-fight spirit will damage whoever it touches. A wrong spirit will kill any marriage, church, or movement. But make no mistake. The mark of a biblical leader is his willingness to contend for the faith. While we should not be contentious, we must contend.

Perhaps this has not happened in your church, but in our church we occasionally have a person who joins the choir and then decides not to live by the standards of behavior to which they had agreed when they came in. We’ll sometimes have a Sunday school teacher who seems to wish to continue teaching their class but no longer wants to visit, no longer wants to live in accordance with the church’s stand on separation from the world, or to be faithful to the services as they had agreed.

It promised to be a beautiful Monday morning in a small, rural area of Kansas. The opening services of the revival on Sunday were productive, and I was thankful to be at this church for a few days. At the crack of dawn, I mounted my bicycle, intending to get some good exercise.

I recently read the book Marion and His Men written by John De Morgan in 1802. It is the story of American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, who was also known as “The Swamp Fox.” Marion both made his mark on the Revolutionary War and earned his moniker by his fighting tactics.

Clouds do not extinguish the light of the sun; they simply cover it temporarily. No matter how dark it gets, beyond the clouds we find the sun unchanged in its radiance and warmth. Spiritually speaking, God allows the clouds of sickness and sorrow to roll into our lives. Our days become long and dark. Our spirits sink low. Our faith begins to waver.

On a scorching hot Monday in July of 1958, Louis Johnson and his family arrived in Tucson, Arizona. By the following Sunday, Pastor Johnson had reserved a room for the first church service in the Pueblo Garden Elementary School. Pastor Johnson and his oldest son knocked on eight hundred doors the following week, inviting everyone that was home to attend a new church plant. Twenty-eight people attended the first service in 1958.

Do you ever feel inadequate for the demands of the day? I do—every day! The longer I serve the Lord, the more I recognize my need for His power. Also, the longer I serve Him, the more I recognize my need to trust His power.