Integrity & Authenticity: Being vs Doing
(Originally written for and posted on www.TheChurchCollective.com)
I would like to begin by asking: “How are you being?”
Church leadership comes with a whole lot of jobs that appear
as if they will not wait. They have to be done, and done now! There are a lot
of stresses and strains that demand your focus and attention one way or the
other. If we are not careful, the business of our lives and indeed the business
of our ministry can get in the way of some very important things such as our
relationship with our families and indeed our relationship with Jesus himself.
Can you remember the last time you just simply hung out with
Jesus? I know sometimes I wake up in the morning and can’t pin point a time
when I last did this. Sometimes when I go to read my Bible I fear that I will
find some dust on the shelf or that a spider has spun a web on one corner like
you see in some cartoon strips. We can get so caught up in the ‘doing’ of life
that we can forget to simply ‘be’.
It is vitally important to remember why we got into ministry
in the first place – because of our love of Jesus and our dedication to Him. We
really do need to guard against letting things take over from the priority of
spending quality time with Him. If we do our whole purpose and ministry will
begin to lose focus and we will start to do things from our own strength rather
than relying upon God. We must carve out time in our busy schedules and perhaps
even make a few sacrifices to establish a pattern of behaviour that places
Jesus firmly back in the centre of our lives.
The chorus of the classic song by Helen H. Lemmel puts it
this way:
“Turn your eyes upon
Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.”
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.”
Without a steady connection to the source of spiritual life
and power, we will begin to see this diminish in our lives. If we are called to
lead others into the throne room and presence of God, we need to be leading
ourselves into His presence first. If we are called to disciple others, we need
to disciple ourselves first.
Take the time to look full into Jesus’ face. Begin to see
things from His perspective again. Things will become clearer the more time we
spend with Him.
So I ask again: “How are you being?” rather than “How are
you doing?” I’m sure you are doing a lot! But it is the ‘being’ that we need to
work on, myself included.
“A Bible that is
falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t” – Charles H. Spurgeon
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