I was in a discussion with some Church leaders, and they were talking about the faith required to lead a Church. I was young and arrogant, and I know that now, but I responded by saying something like this: “God would not have to show up here for weeks, and we would be fine.”

As you can imagine, their jaws dropped. They questioned me, “What do you mean?”

My response was equally direct. “Well, we have over $50,000 in the bank. And we are not planning anything that requires us to stretch ourselves spiritually in any way in the near future.”

Please hear me; I was not being critical. It was simply an honest evaluation from my experience in that Church and numerous others like it. They had money, they were comfortable, and they felt security aside from their faith.

I firmly believe that a Church should ask itself, “What are we doing that would fail if God did not show up this week?”

What projects? What outreach? What worship? What teaching? What mission expansion? What?

The Church community should be a place that leads the way in trusting God as we live by faith and not by sight.

Recently, I was in a discussion with my current group of Church leaders, and I asked them if we should still give away 50% of our offering on Easter to the children’s home like we usually do. Funds are tight, and we have few reserves in the bank at this moment. One of the leaders quickly piped up, “If we believe God is in this, then we need to do it.” Soon, everyone around the table added their vote of agreement. And so, we are going to trust God to provide all we need to do his work in both our Church and the places where we support others.

It is a scary thing to lead by faith, but as a Christian leader, it is the only place I want to be.

My new tool was not working properly. I tried several things to get it working, but it was to no avail.

I went and picked up the owner’s manual, and there was an entire section labeled “Troubleshooting.”

The section will list a problem and then a solution. Some issues may have multiple solutions. These pages offer the owner practical instructions on how to handle the difficulties they might encounter.

Sadly, the Bible does not offer a troubleshooting section. If something in your life is not working the way it should, then look up page 181 and find three things you can do to fix it. There are no “easy steps” to overcome whatever you are facing.

Yet, I encounter Christians regularly who come to me, tell me about a struggle they are facing, and then ask me to troubleshoot it. They are always disappointed when I tell them that the scriptures are not that straightforward. Some stories and passages help us gain an understanding of what God wants us to do in a general way, but there is little practical advice on how that might work out in your life.

My typical response to people is to have them read some section of the Bible, start praying for a solution, seek wise counsel, develop a plan that fits their personality, and pray some more before they act. The way to fix their issues is very rarely a simple answer; instead, it takes time to think, reflect, and draw close to God. And even then, it requires an element of faith as they move forward.

Unfortunately, the Bible has no troubleshooting section. Instead, it encourages us to spend a lifetime taking our troubles to God, seeking his will, and trusting that he will work even when we don’t see it.

Most of us can identify with the sentiment that we have two different people living inside of us.

There is the morning me and the evening me.

There is the hungry me and the well-fed me.

There is the tired me, and the rested me.

My reactions, emotions, and plans can vary greatly depending on which version of me you catch. The problem really starts to show when we allow this to slip into our faith.

There is the weekday me and the Sunday morning me.

There is the person around non-Christian friends and the one with Church people.

One goal for every believer is to move from being two different people into one unified follower of Jesus.

There is a group of believers that think the Church they attend is doing everything the most Biblical way.

I can appreciate their mindset; as a Church leader myself, I am also trying to follow the Bible in all that our Church does.

The problem comes when people develop a certain mindset about their community of faith. This is the belief that their group is “more spiritual” than everyone else. They might not say it out loud, but down deep, they feel the only authentic, true Christians they know go to their Church.

After all, their Church preaches through the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse. They have a discipleship program that gives people deep faith. Everyone who attends knows their Bible well, probably better than most Churches. They homeschool, have small groups, recovery programs, mission trips, and they never play games at youth group. They only use specific curricula for teaching and avoid certain modern translations of the Bible. They have a long list of things that set their community apart from all other believers.

One problem with this type of thinking is that it reflects the attitude of the Pharisees more than Jesus’s. The Pharisees claimed to be more spiritual than everyone else. They honored the Old Testament law and the traditions that supported it.

Jesus, on the other hand, had a group of followers who appeared to care more about position, made numerous stupid statements, denied their faith, and even betrayed their leader. They are a rag-tag group of fishermen, tax collectors, and zealots with questionable knowledge of the Old Testament.

And yet, that is the group of people Jesus uses to launch his Church and lead it into the future. They are the ones who will form the foundation for the Church, with Jesus as the chief cornerstone.

It is possible that in our efforts to please God and follow Jesus, we develop a Pharisaic spirit instead of the spirit of Jesus.

I spend an extraordinary amount of time discussing how to interpret the Bible correctly. The big word for this is hermeneutics. We must use proper methods to understand the scriptures correctly.

Recently, I was reminded that we also need to interpret people correctly. Author James Clear posted this last week.

“Spend today interpreting whatever people do in the most generous way. See if you feel better as a result.”

A minister on the staff of a large Church was told by their new lead pastor that they were required to have five people they were praying for who needed to know Jesus. They were to write the names down on Post-it notes and have them by their computers. This way, whatever they were writing or doing for the Church, they would be reminded to think of that lost person while they worked.

Then he realized he did not know five people who were not believers. He worked at the Church, and all his friends were there. As a result, he went to another staff member and asked for his advice. He was told that he should start by spending the next thirty days praying for God to give him a heart for non-Christians and eyes to see them.

Finally, he explained how this one event changed his life and ministry forever.

My encouragement today is similar. Would you be willing to pray this simple prayer for the next thirty days: “God, please open my heart and eyes to people who do not know Jesus?”

If my calculations are correct, as of today, you could pray for thirty days and then have thirty days to invite people to join you for Easter.

It is possible that the next two months could change your heart, along with someone’s life, for eternity. All you have to do is start with a prayer.

I am conference tired.

I have spent the last two days at my alma mater for their annual Preaching and Teaching Convention. It is two days of worship, preaching, workshops, and networking. I have been talking to people about ministry while learning about all things Biblical. It has been a wonderfully full 48 hours, and I am the type of tired that one can only be after a good conference.

Every time I go to one of these, I am reminded of how much bigger the Church community is than I remember. I tend to live with a focus on the Christians that I lead and serve. Then I went to something like this and spent time with a much broader range of people.

Over the last couple of days, I have spoken to old friends from college, colleagues in ministry, professors with former professors, current students, and total strangers who only have Jesus in common. Every time I turned around, someone new wanted to talk to me about the things I care about the most.

As an introvert, I find it exhausting, but this morning, I also find it exhilarating. It makes me long for heaven and endless years to not only worship our Lord but also spend time with other people who also value worshipping the Lord. 

Comparing yourself to others is a nasty game. It can make you despondent or fill you with pride.

Comparing yourself to yourself is an essential action. It is a form of self-evaluation.

Are you a better Christian than you were a year ago?

Do you know more about Jesus, and have you grown as a disciple compared to five years ago?

Spiritual growth is vital to a life of faith. Looking back and asking comparison questions about yourself is a valuable tool. Day-to-day living can cloud our perspective on what God is doing in our lives. Seeing if you are a better you than you were years ago will help clear the air and ensure our lives are on the right trajectory.

What types of anecdotes about yourself do you share with others?

Are the stories always about you and your struggles?

Are you always the hero of the stories you tell, or are you more of a jester trying to make others laugh?

Do you only talk about your kids and find your identity in them?

If I were able to talk to you for an hour or two, the stories you share with me will reveal to me how you view yourself, others, and Jesus.

If you want to change how people feel about you, one place to start is by changing the stories you tell.

Imagine a person who attends Church. Now let me give you some details about their life.

-Their attendance only happens 2 times a month. Infrequent is how I would describe it.
-They do not read their Bible very often, definitely not every day.
-They are not connected to a small group; in fact, they have very few Christian friends.
-They give a little money to their school, scouts, and sometimes the Church.
-They are not developing anyone in their faith, not even their children.
-They might invite a person to Church once a year, but that usually happens by accident.

How would you define this person? Would you call them a Christian? Would you call them a committed follower of Jesus?

Most people I encounter need to ask themselves a simple question to help them evaluate their lives. Do my actions align with what I say and believe?

My guess is that you already know the answer.