How to tell if you’re ready for the next level of service in the Kingdom

“Now, the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffing at Him.  And He said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God'” (Luke 16:15).

The director of missions (a local denominational leader, for readers unfamiliar with Southern Baptist terminology) told me about a visitor he had one day, a fellow making himself available to pastor a church.

The DOM (I’ll call him Will) said, “Tell me about your present church involvement.”

The visitor said, “I’m not actually involved in a church at the present time.  I’m just visiting around.”

Will: “How long have you lived here?”

The man: “Five years.”

Will said, “May I ask why you haven’t joined a church and become active?”

The man said, “Because my presence would intimidate a pastor.”

Will said, “My friend, I would never recommend you as a pastor of a church.  Not in a million years.”

The visit ended quickly.

That syndrome–“I’ve never actually done it, but am sure I could do it easily!” (what we hereafter refer to as INADI)–has been with us from the start. That’s why the Lord chose to address it here in Luke 16. More about that below.

Management appears easy to someone in a lowly starting position. He’s sure he could run this company because the boss seems to do it so effortlessly.

The INADI victim overlooks something huge: When a leader does something really well, their work may appear simple and effortless.

Michael Jordan fell for this myth.  After a full career in the basketball world, arguably as the best NBA player of all time, he decided to try baseball.  Simple game, he figured. Anyone can play it and often does.  But Jordan never made it out of the minors. (His batting average that year of AA ball was .202, just barely good enough to get a player sent home with the suggestion he find another career.)  Baseball is a far harder game to master than Jordan ever imagined.

Baseball purists loved the lesson of this. (smiley-face goes here)

INADI man: “I’m sure I’d be a good missionary, if the board would just appoint me.  I’d love to go overseas and serve the Lord in a pagan country.”  The Board representative: “Okay, tell me about your witness for Christ in your own neighborhood. How is that going?”  INADI: “Well, I don’t actually know my neighbors.  I live in an unfriendly neighborhood, you see. But if I were overseas where no one knows me, I could be a good witness.”

No, you couldn’t. If you are not witnessing for the Lord where you live, you would not suddenly start sharing your faith effectively in a new culture.

INADI woman: “I could be a great Sunday School teacher.  If you will put me in a classroom, and leave me alone without interfering, the people will love my teaching.”  Minister of the church: “What class do you presently belong to?”  INADI: “I’m not actually a member of a class.  In fact, I’ve never gone to one consistently because most are so awful. That’s why I want to teach; I could do so much better than the other teachers I’ve seen.”

No, thank you.  We will not be needing you as a teacher, friend.

I’m recalling with a smile my own experience at the ripe old age of 20.  The director of our Sunday School department probably noticed me chafing at the bit, just dead sure I could do a better job than she was doing.  Lee Alys Orr was one smart lady.  “Joe,” she said, “I want you to be director of our department. Would you do that?”  Certain I could pull this off without breaking a sweat, I agreed.

Within a few weeks, I was frantic.  My leadership technique was non-existent, my devotionals at the start of the weekly assembly were awful, and I was ready to hand it back to her.  (I’m going by memory here–that was a lifetime ago–but Mrs. Orr agreed to take it back at my request, and went right on loving me.  One amazing lady.  However, God called me into the ministry a few months later.  But only after He had humbled me!)

Let’s consider this for a moment: “I’ve never actually done it, but I’m sure I could do it if you would only give me a chance.”

The speaker is almost always immature and naive, even foolish. If others would kindly step to the rear and let a winner lead the way, we could get this program on the road!  (And yes, I am referencing the hit song of some years back, for readers who remember.)

Our Lord gave us three tests to determine whether a person should be moved up to a higher level of responsibility.  INADI persons, please take note!

1) How are you about smaller responsibilities?

2) How are you at handling your money?

3) How responsible are you with something belonging to another person?

Those three guides are found in Luke 16:10-12, just before the text at the head of this piece. There is nothing else in Scripture like these principles.  They should be essential elements in the equipment of every Human Resource manager, every church personnel committee, every church administrator, every pastor.

He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” (Luke 16:10)

The best clue to how you would pastor a huge church is how you are pastoring a small church. The best guide for knowing if you would be a good pastor of a small church (or any size!) is your present service in the church where you hold membership.  As DOM Will told his visitor, “If you are not presently involved in a church at all, you automatically disqualify yourself from becoming a pastor.”

When pastors become unemployed–a sad phenomenon that happens from time to time–and want to get their resume’ in the hands of a search committee, I sometimes tell them, “The first thing the committee will want to know is what are you doing right now?  If you have not joined a churchin the community where you now live and are not serving anywhere (because you’re waiting to be called to pastor), it’s not a good sign.”

Faithful in the little things?  You would be faithful in larger assignments.

That is an infallible rule, my friend.

“If you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you?” (Luke 16:11)

The wonderful KJV calls this “filthy lucre.” I love that. (A friend named Norse Luker was often teasingly called “Filthy Luker.” )  “Unrighteous mammon” doesn’t communicate much more to this generation than filthy lucre, either.  However, the point is simply that money is not holy, but merely a tool that can be used for good or bad purposes.  (Physically, we’re told, money carries the germs from hundreds of hands of previous owners. So it is indeed “filthy!”)

How we spend our money tells the story on us.  So, the pastor who says “Show me your checkbook and I’ll tell you what you value most in life” is pretty close to the target.

The INADI talker dreams about winning a big lottery jackpot and all the things he/she would do with the millions.  However, there is a way to know if they would follow through on those dreams: “See what they are doing with the money they have now.”  It’s an infallible guide.

Btw, friend, don’t rush past “the true riches” statement.  In no way does the Lord Jesus Christ consider money as highly as we seem to.  What are the true riches?  He leaves the term nebulous, but surely would include salvation, the gospel, His calling, and being assigned to a place of great importance.

“And, if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?” (Luke 16:12)

How you treat borrowed things will determine whether you are given something of your very own.

The teenager wants a car of his/her own.  How they treat dad’s car or mom’s SUV will go a long way in settling this issue.

The Sunday School member wants a class of her own. How she conducts herself as a member of her present class will speak volumes on that matter.

Even though INADI people will argue, you will treat your own home the same way you treated rental property.  You would do overseas the same thing you are doing in your own neighborhood.  And if you won the lottery and were suddenly featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal as the biggest winner of the decade, you would do with the money the same thing you are doing with a much smaller amount now, although on a bigger scale.

How you are doing now–with little assignments, with money, and with other people’s things–tells us all we need to know about you.

I’m not sure why the young pastor up the highway called me, of all people. But he said, “Joe, I just feel like my talents are being wasted here in this little church. I could be so much more effective for the Lord in a larger church.”

He wanted me to recommend him to some bigger place, I imagine.

I said, “My friend, I can share your resume’ with the big church. However, you need to know that the first thing they will do is to look at your present situation to determine how you would do there.”

“The only way they have for judging your leadership in their church is what you are doing where you are.”

“So, if you want to be called to a bigger assignment, the best thing you can possibly do is dedicate yourself to the job God has given you.  Love those people, minister to them, lead them to Christ, start some great programs, and preach the Word. Do that, and you will have pastor search committees lining up outside your front door.”

What we left unsaid here is that, if he will dedicate himself to doing a great job where he is, he will end up loving these people so much and loving his present assignment so fiercely, he’ll not want to go anywhere.

Nothing cures the itch to move like loving where you are. And nothing causes us to love where we are like buckling down to work and giving our all to the Lord and these people.

 

 

 

 

One thought on “How to tell if you’re ready for the next level of service in the Kingdom

  1. Thanks, Joe. great interpretation of the passage and great advice/exposition for anyone ‘looking’ for greener pastures! I really appreciated it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.