“Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” (Philippians 4:5, KJV)
Two nights ago, I had another dream that I want to use as an illustration for this thought. In this one, I was a pastor of a small church that was instrumental in a ministry that fed the poor. Yet somehow, we lost the connection to the people who supported this by giving us a hall large enough to accommodate those whom we fed. I was in a tailspin trying to figure out how this happened.
As I pondered the issue, a powerful thought, a convicting thought, came to me. I had failed to maintain the relationship that I had in the beginning with the people who had provided for the ministry all those years. As I thought about this more, I realized that I had allowed my priorities to be misplaced. I had lost touch with everyone and that this was detrimental to the Lord’s work. That is when I awoke.
As we read through Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we must not overlook the issue of relationships. The entire letter includes a focus upon Paul’s fond relationship with the church and with the Lord. Paul wrote letters to the churches because of his relationship with them.
One of the most vital aspects of ministry often overlooked today is that of building meaningful and intimate relationships with the Lord Jesus and others. The Scriptures teach us that the principal commandment is that we are to love the Lord our God and our neighbors. It is impossible to love in this way without relationships. So, how do we build such relationships?
In my years of ministry, I have discovered that building relationships takes time and that there are many things that work to attack this work of love. The primary attacker is busyness and misplaced priorities. As a church grows, ministers can become overloaded with ministerial and administrative duties that can steal precious time from what is vitally important. The ministry is about our relationship with the Lord and His people. I personally believe that the health of the church is proportional to the depth of these relationships. The deeper these relationships are, the healthier the church will be.
What often happens to successful churches as the Lord builds them. The pastors, staff, and parishioners can begin to lose their focus on their relationships with Lord and one another. Things can shift from the people to the building of the empire, the institution of the church. People begin to feel distant. Even worse they, including the pastor and staff, can lose the connection with the head of the church, the Lord Jesus.
What is the solution to this problem? First, realize that this subtle diversion is not driven by the Lord, but our adversary who wants to weaken the church. This is also fueled by our own fleshly priorities, which leads us the next thought.
Second, we must reorder our priorities by making time to build good relationships with everyone, especially the Lord. This will take time and close personal communications. There are no shortcuts. Church people do not allow the busyness of the ministry to detract from the people of God and the Lord. It can easily happen. If necessary, get help or farm out certain tasks.
Above all, remember that the ministry is about our relationship with the Lord and His people.
Renewing the Heart 