Last week, I sat through two days of a conference. It is an annual event that I thoroughly enjoy … until this year.

This year, it hit me differently. The sermons did not touch my heart and soul like in previous years. The worship did not seem as inspiring as it usually does. The workshops did not offer the practical wisdom I needed for my ministry. The fellowship of pastors and Church leaders was devoid of the typical joy and enthusiasm.

On the ride home, I was processing my experience when a thought came to me quite clearly: Maybe the problem this year was with me.

Lately, I have been exhausted from the workload. There is never a day I don’t have a long list of things to do. This list includes meetings with people at all hours of the day. While I love these times, as an introvert, they exhaust me.

Also, Easter is earlier this year, putting extra pressure on me to focus on Church events. The most productive season of the Church is upon me, and I do not want to waste a minute of it. Soon, summer will be here, and everyone will be at the lake or the ball game. I must strike while the iron is hot.

Perhaps I wasn’t entirely blessed by the conference because of my physical, emotional, and spiritual starting point.

Why do I tell you all this? Because I think the same thing can happen to anyone on any given Sunday. Worship can seem dry and dull because of what is going on in your life. The preaching can feel lifeless and unpractical when you are exhausted. People can appear aloof or mean when your emotional tank is empty.

Sometimes, the best question is not, “What is wrong with my Church lately.” Instead, it is, “What is going on with me?” 

Your Church might be struggling right now, but it also might be a phase you are going through.

There was a discussion at the conference I attended during one of the workshops. The old statement was that 80% of the work was done by 20% of the people. The conversation that ensued was whether that number was valid in most Churches anymore. Some said the new research was closer to 90% done by 10% of the people. Others argued that the number was more like 95%, done by 5% of those attending.

Everyone in the room could agree on one thing. The number of people serving had not risen from that 20% and, if anything, was steadily declining. Currently, the group serving each week in the Church is possibly the lowest in history.

As one of those five, ten, or twenty percent who serve consistently, I want the rest of you to know that it is exhausting.

There is so much that can and should be done every single week. There are people to serve in the name of Jesus. There is also the work of teaching and preaching the Gospel. The setup and clean-up before and after the job is done. So. Much. To. Do.

The old expression is, “Many hands make light work.” Every time you step up to serve, you are pleasing the Lord, blessing the recipients, AND relieving the workload of others.

Everyone wins when you step out to do something in faith, and we often forget the joy it brings to those diligently serving every week. Your hands make their work lighter.

I know this for sure: you are a blessing to someone in your Church every time you serve.

This is one of my favorite songs at the Church I lead. The tempo is upbeat, the lyrics are easy to sing, and everyone seems to like it, so the vocals fill the room.

It captures a line from the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done,” and applies it to the Church. Lord, as a congregation of believers, we want to be your kingdom of God on earth. And the believers sing it on Sunday morning to say, “Start here, right now.”

I would like you to expand your concept of the word HERE.

What would it mean for you to sing that song, or at least say that phrase, everywhere you went?

Lord, use me to build your kingdom HERE – here in my marriage. Here in my parenting. Here in my career. Here in my leisure time. Here in private moments.

The kingdom of God is something that I hope permeates every Church, but more than that, I hope it expands into every part of our lives.  

I am a firm believer in Divine Appointments. There are moments in life when it is clear that God has orchestrated a series of events to bring people together. Two people with similar backgrounds find themselves at the same event and end up sitting at the same table, where they strike up a new friendship. That one moment transforms every other moment after it. The person was in the right place at the right time, and God brought an astonishing result.

If that is true, then there exists the possibility of Divine Cancelations. There also moments in life where we miss out on opportunities God had planned for us because we did not follow through with our plans. If they had gone to the small group they had signed up for, they might have met this incredible person who could help shape the rest of their lives. Instead, they missed the chance to experience something God had designed for them because they were not in the right place at the right time.

Christians love talking about all those powerful moments where God’s hand was clearly at work, and they saw it. Sometimes, we need to ponder all the missed opportunities because we were busy and tired and canceled what was planned.

As a believer, make every effort to follow through, do what you say, and show up where you are expected because you never know what God might be putting together.

You must be self-motivated to grow in your faith and relationship with the Lord.

Your preacher does not have a chart marking off your accomplishments. No one requires a time sheet showing all the hours you served selflessly for Jesus. No one at Church asks you the number of hours you spent reading your Bible. None of your family will need a report on your prayer life. No spreadsheets are tracking your spiritual growth.

It is strictly between you and God.

As a result, it is easy to hit the snooze button and skip a quiet time. No one is disappointed if you watch another show on TV rather than read your Bible. There are no immediate consequences if you sleep in on Sunday and skip Church.

Spiritual growth requires you to push yourself to be all God desires. It is a transformation of your natural desires to pursue the things of God. And the first thing that needs changing is your desire.

The Church can only provide the resources for growth; the rest must come from inside you.

I described a person I knew to someone else and said, “They are a very important person to me.”

Then it hit me: that is what every Christian should want to be.

The temptation is to become known to everyone. We call that fame. Every person knows my name, possibly my face, and some of the work I have done. It sounds appealing.

Yet, everyone can learn about you, and your life still feels like it has little value. Don’t believe me? Google “celebrity suicide.” So many famous people felt empty enough to take their own lives that Wikipedia has to categorize them by year and alphabetically.

Fame does not make people happy. Significance does. 

And you cannot be significant to a large group of people effectively. It only happens in small groups and individual relationships.

Only a few people may know your name, which is okay if those people see you as having a significant role in their life. It is far better to be important to a few than popular to a lot.

Who sees you as an important person in their life?

I hate that Christians call some of their gatherings “Retreats.”

There are youth retreats, men’s retreats, women’s retreats, couple’s retreats, and leadership retreats. It seems that every weekend, some Church group is retreating.

The idea is that some people are withdrawing from active service for renewal. They step away from the usual routine to reconnect with God and one another.

If that is the case, we should approach every day with a sense of “Engagement.” We should see each one as an opportunity to defeat the enemy forces and accomplish our mission. 

Retreats after months of engagement are rejuvenating. Retreats after months of disengagement are laughable.

Perhaps the Church needs more weekends of active “Engagement” than another “Retreat.”  

One key that I have learned to keep a vibrant spiritual life is continual change. Whenever I start into a season where I feel stale and stagnant in my personal growth, I change my routine. This can often breathe new life into my old habits.

One example would be when my prayer life seems lifeless. This is an excellent time to try praying in a different physical position or location. Standing, kneeling, and praying out loud have helped me reengage spiritually.

Sometimes, it means changing the routine that I use to pray. Starting with the needs of others and then moving to my needs allows me to refocus. A prayer journal might keep my thoughts clear and give me a place to write down how prayers were answered. Small changes in my daily habits can help me find the passion I have lost.

If you are going to read and pray every day for the rest of your life, you will need to change your approach to those two practices frequently. One little change can often help you focus mentally or eliminate distractions.

So, don’t give up if you are struggling with keeping the spiritual disciplines. Try something different.

It is not a choice of either/or. 

It is both/and.

A mature believer is committed to the entire Great Commission of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20. They are being discipled to “obey everything Jesus commanded.”

And part of that obedience is going out to make more disciples.

A person is not a mature Christian disciple until he reproduces more disciples.

We do not have a choice between developing disciples or reaching new believers. Christians are instructed to do both.

I am an enormous advocate of building relationships in an effort to share our faith. I have been preaching and teaching this since I first entered the ministry.

An intelligent youth minister once quipped, “The problem with lifestyle evangelism for most people is that it is all lifestyle and no evangelism.”

He is correct.

I want Christians to connect to nonbelievers in meaningful ways so that they share the message of Jesus. But if all we do is hang out with them and become their friends without starting spiritual conversations, inviting them to Church, and ultimately sharing the Gospel, then we have failed.

Be wise in your relationships and words; eternity hangs in the balance.