I watched a preacher online drone on and on. His content was fairly high quality, but his delivery was the same as it had been for the last ten years since I’ve known him. He had the same stance at the podium, the same notes, the same tone of voice, the same type of outline, and spoke for the same length of time.

My mind immediately went back to a man I knew who served in ministry for seven years at one Church, then seven at the next, and then seven at the next. When he applied for a new job during the interview, he proclaimed he had 21 years of experience. One extremely perceptive leader in the Church replied, “It sounds more like you have seven years of experience and have repeated it three times.”

One personal goal I set each year is to challenge myself in at least one area. In 2019, I set out to learn everything about ministry in a small Church and especially in a rural setting. That led me to changes in my life and ministry. In 2020, I took on the task of preaching without notes as I began speaking to a camera during Covid. In 2021, I decided to take my blog more seriously and learn about writing, leading me to five original posts from Monday to Friday. In 2022, I began to work on my intrapersonal skills and try to become better at how I interact with other people. In 2023, I have been working on learning about discipleship while intentionally discipling people. 

I say none of this to shame those preachers or boast about myself. I am simply trying to illustrate that many Christians become complacent in serving the Lord. We learn enough to answer questions, find a way to serve in an area that is comfortable, and settle into a routine. None of those things is inherently evil, but neither do they stretch our faith.

You will be surprised by all God can do through you when you challenge yourself in faith. One thing I can assure you is that life will never be boring.