Sunday, March 12, 2006

Coming Clean


At Conference On The Ministry I made the following statement:

"When you start something new in ministry, you measure success differently"

A friend asked me to unpack this statement a little bit and I thought I'd address it through a post just in case someone else heard me say that and needed an explanation:




I'm not sure why I made that comment because in retrospect I actually don't measure success any differently. I was probably saying it to make myself feel good.

OR, I have always measured success improperly. Maybe I've always cared about what I think success is. Maybe I've been too caught up with "closing the deal" with an unsaved person.

OR, success is a term that is totally incongruent with the gospel. Maybe the heart is not a measurable thing.

Or maybe I'm afraid of failing. Maybe I'm so consumed with the need down here that failing will absolutely devastate me.

I'm not sure.

2 comments:

jeremy postal said...

"Or maybe I'm afraid of failing. Maybe I'm so consumed with the need down here that failing will absolutely devastate me."

Hmmm...that is such a good thought! Maybe success is measured differently and to the same degree that we are passionate about what we are doing? When I think of the things that would devestate me b/c I've failed I realize that I place a lot more significance on that success then I would something else. I see why the statement works...for me I have a hard time dealing with success statements mostly b/c I am trying to figure out what success means in ministry. ????

Paul & Wanda Moores said...

This process down here has been way harder than I realize. It takes a lot, not because of circumstance but because all the rules are different.