enroute

One of the areas of my life that God has been refining over the last few years is in regards to “undefined spiritual success (USS).”

I can almost guarantee that all of you have never heard of the USS disease that plagues the majority of us in ministry.  You see the USS disease shows up on most Mondays as we evaluate what happened in the past weekend’s worth of ministry.

You know you struggle with USS when you find yourself making these statements:
- If only I would have said this…
- If only I would have done this…
- If only I would have more of this…
- If only, if only, if only…

It is that elusive chase that plagues the majority of us in ministry.  It is like we are running on that hamster wheel chasing after some level of success that we aren’t even sure we know how to define it.

I believe it is one of the things that Satan uses to derail us and cause us to question our calling.  It causes us to desire to be the guy who works an 8 – 5 job with no level of ownership in it.

God has been stripping the USS away from me over these last few years.  It consumed me and many of my Mondays were spent in the “if only I” syndrome.  A few months ago, I believe God took me to a familiar passage of Scripture to help me work through this.

The Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10 — As Jesus is answering this guy’s questions about how to enter into the kingdom of heaven, He isn’t pulling any punches or soft-selling the message.  The man is tracking with Jesus until that final question and realizes that he can’t do it.

Can you imagine Jesus’ eyes as the rich young man walks away because he can’t do it?  Can you imagine being one of the disciples and watching this all come down?

I would describe Jesus as the ultimate communicator and still people didn’t respond positively to each message that He shared.  He knew how to say and still it didn’t derail Him.

This story has given me great hope and it isn’t because of how tough being a Christ follower is but simply because some people won’t respond to the message.

So, today, since it is Monday and you might be having one of those UCC kinds of days – remember that even the masterful communicator named Jesus didn’t have people always respond positively to the tough message of following Him.

God is working on helping me define success as my level of obedience to Him not by how people respond to what I say or do…That is my prayer for you today.

- Matt