Audio
Fix the priorities
Many people - including those of us who are in the ministry - are looking for joy in the wrong places. As Pastors, we want to find them in a larger church, more effective ministry, and very often in the praise of our colleagues or church members. However, we will do it in vain - we will not find joy there.
Last week I shared with you what I think is the No. 1 killer in Christian ministry - legalism. I firmly believe that wrong priorities follow right after. Paul speaks of his own priorities in his letter to the Philippians. He said: But what was gain to me I have considered harm for Christ's sake. Yes, I still consider it all to be detrimental to the exuberant knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake all this has been harmed to me, and I consider it filth, that I may win Christ (Philippians 3,7-8).
This is the profit and loss account of Paul. He says, however, that what was once profit for me, I consider to be injurious to the knowledge of Jesus. Their priorities are out of balance if they are not fully focused on the person of Jesus Christ, if you can not consider anything other than harm to him. That is one of the reasons why Paul kept his joy even though he was in prison when he wrote this letter.
Notice the phrase: I consider it all filthy to win Christ. The word dirt can also be translated as feces, dung. Paul tells us that everything we have is worthless crap without Jesus. Fame, money or power can never replace the simple joy of knowing Jesus.
You will find joy in the service if you keep your priorities in order. Do not lose the joy of things that are not important. Christ is important. There are a lot less important things that can cause you to lose your joy in the ministry. People do not do what they want. They do not appear if they should appear as you wish. They do not help if you should help. People will disappoint you. If you focus on these things, it will easily happen that you lose your joy.
Paul tells us in this letter that it doesn't matter what kind of honors you have, how big your church is, or how many books you have written - you can have all of these in your ministry and still be unhappy. Paul points in Philippians 3,8 suggests that life consists of exchanging things. He considered it all harm that he might be found in Christ.
Jesus said something else in relation to the exchange. He told us that we can not serve two masters. We have to decide what or who will be number one in our lives. Many of us want Jesus plus something else. We want to serve God in church work, but at the same time we are stuck to other things as well. Paul tells us that we have to give up all these things to know Christ.
The reason why we have our priorities mixed up and therefore our service is joyless is because we know that we have to give up certain things in order to truly live for Christ. We are afraid that we will be restricted. But we can hardly escape the reality. When we come to Jesus, we give up everything. The strange thing is, if we do that, we find that we've never had it that good. He takes what we have given him and he improves it, rearranges it, adds a new meaning, and gives it back to us in a new way.
Jim Elliot, the missionary who was murdered by the Indians in Ecuador, said: He is not a fool who gives up what he can not keep to get what he can not lose.
So, what are you afraid to give up? What has become a false priority in your life and in your ministry? Has the relationship with Christ been replaced by the goals for the church?
It's time to rearrange your priorities - and rediscover your joy.
by Rick Warren
