Tip 2: Get over your Messiah complexLet’s say together with me… “I am not God.”
You are not the Messiah (although you may be a very naughty boy).
You are not the Saviour of the world, your church, your ministry or even yourself.
Your young people need Jesus not you.
Phew, let that truth sink in for a second. Because if we really believe it deep down then it will save us from the ugly headed monster of arrogance and the inner destruction of despair & depression.
Unfortunately, I am over-qualified to talk about this complex as it is a real struggle for me.
To illustrate let me share an example. Last year our Youth Club was going through a difficult period. I’d taken a week off & phoned another leader to see how it had gone. His response was that it had been a fantastic week with kids listening for a change & opening up about faith….
… And inside I was disappointed!
Disappointed because I wasn’t there, because they weren’t opening up to me – the youth pastor, the “expert”, the “professional”. Inside the demon of pride had wanted to hear that the evening had been a disaster, that leaders couldn’t cope without me and a pleading to never leave them again. How arrogant, insecure & messed up is that?
God is constantly teaching me that I am not the Messiah. That He does not need me. And on the days when I really accept this fact, I am at my most useful to Him.
1 comment:
Interesting comment, Johnny. Yesterday I bumped into Sam McC in church office. He didn't know I was on sabbatical. Then he told me: Wycliffe will get on fine without you for 4 months, they won't miss you. Fortunately I had already realised this! Later I bumped into a colleague in a well known coffee shop on the Castlereagh Road who confided: we don't need you in the office right now, but we still miss you. Awww...
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