John Starke dishes out four things every Pastor I know (myself included) needs to hear. These are a few things for the ambitious — those who tend to make an idol of work, accomplishments, and their self-worth — to keep in mind:
1. You cannot accomplish everything – only God can
God limited the day to 24 hours and designed our bodies to sleep a good bit of it. We should be thankful workers – thankful for sleep and thankful that God is faithful to finish all that he promises.
2. The universe does not rely upon your accomplishments – only God’s
It is amazing how quickly people forget how little the world relies upon what we accomplish in one day, week, year, or lifetime. This is a good reminder for pastors. The future of your Church relies upon the faithfulness of God, not the amount of work accomplished in your work week. It doesn’t take long to realize the implications this point should have upon our prayer life.
3. We are only the means to what God accomplishes, not the source
A Christian work ethic has at its core the Creator-creature distinction. We are not God, but a created being which God delights in using to accomplish his will. His will does not depend upon our inclusion in it.
4. We are only the means to what God accomplishes, not the culmination of God’s accomplishments
It’s easy to over-estimate the importance of our daily tasks. A good perspective to keep concerning our tasks is that they are not the culmination of all God is doing. They are small means to the end God has intended.
If you’re a Pastor and you’re like me, these are not things you need to be reminded of occassionally, you need to read these every day.
In fact, why don’t you print this out and post it on your office door?
