Time Moves at a Necessary Pace

Please read Luke 19:11-27

Time is one of the things that we as humans hate to abide due to the fact that we are unable to control it. Since we have no way of manipulating time, we naturally see it as our adversary, when in fact, it is a supernatural tool used by the almighty to help us grow and develop into the individuals and groups that we must be to begin to do the good work that he desires of us.

Understand that the time that passes between the moment that a pastor vacates the office he holds to the point at which the Almighty directs another to assume such that vacant position, the group that remains is on a journey of growth and reconciliation in preparation of that coming as well as the work that must be done for the Kingdom of God. You as a leader in the church during the absence of the pastor must not only know that the time that elapses from one pastor to another is necessary, but understand that its movement is paced for your progress and for the completion of the tasks necessary to be prepared for this new shepherd.

FAR too often the pace that is desired by a church is hasty and foolish. We want our pastor and church to mature like a Hot-Pocket in a micro wave oven…and when we follow such an impatient timeline that is more-or-less what we get. We find ourselves with a pastor that is only slightly passionate for the people of the church and clothes himself like a soggy, undercooked crust of what otherwise might be a filling meal only briefly concealing the cold and often frozen center of the hearts of people who have not been prepared for Good Work.

Instead, we must take each step of a timeline and do good work to prepare the church for the true work that lies ahead. Keeping in mind that the meal being prepared for the fellowship of the believer must be much more than a pizza-filled pastry, we prepare ourselves for the feast provided by the Holy Spirit of God. Time and effort must be invested in the preparation of our people as well as ourselves; that we might find ourselves having produced a profit with the minas with which we have been entrusted.

Ministry

Ministry is a word that is overused. It means nothing when we don’t want it to, and it means everything when we are trying to impress someone. Ministry must be more than simply a flippant word that we toss around to excuse ourselves from the office to attend a football game out of town. Ministry must be our heart. It must be the very thing that keeps us up at night in prayer for our people. It must be the thing that helps us stay awake when we drive across country to pick up a student who has lost their way, and what helps us sleep at night when the world, or even our own church members, hates us for the way we care for the lost and broken. Ministry must be our fruit.

When I say that ministry must never suffer in the absence of a pastor it is to say that our hearts must be aligned with the Father to the degree that our faith be not dismantled simply because our office system is a bit quieter. We must brazenly run to the hurting and give to those in need. Without regard to the faltering fiscal revenue, and with no thought to how we might pay the light bill at the church next month.

Ministry is the element of the church that will make it relevant, in spite of trends or cultural shifts. Ministry is the element of Jesus that made people flock to him. Ministry is why we have deacons, elders, bishops, and pastors. Ministry is why we have jobs and why the hurting have hope. Ministry is the overwhelming drive of the spirit in each of our hearts to make a difference in the world.

May the spirit empower you, may He make His light shine upon you, and may you make famous His name in all the earth!