Friday Focus...This hit me between the eyes!

Below is the video I will be referring to in this blog post.  The speaker is Darrick Patrick, teaching pastor at Seacoast Church in Charleston, SC, who is speaking at a chapel service at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.  It is about 35 minutes long but so worth the time to listen to and especially if you are in ministry.  

I just want to give you some one liners that hit me so hard that I wrote them down and then started sharing them with others in confession mode.  The passage to turn to in your Bible is Numbers chapter 20 and verses 1 through 13.  I thank the Lord often for the ability to listen through the means of the internet of chapel services from great Christian universities and seminaries around the nation.

Numbers 20:7, 8 - 

The LORD spoke to Moses,

"Take the staff and assemble the community.

You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock

while they watch, and it will yield its water.

You will bring out water from them from the rock

and provide drink for the community and their livestock."

Numbers 20:10, 11 -

Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock,

and Moses said to them,"Listen, you rebels!  

Must we bring water out of this rock for you?"

Then Moses raised his hand 

and struck the rock twice with his staff,

so that abundant water gushed out,

and the community and their livestock drank.

The first one-liner or a "stop and think" point:

"Am I getting sloppy with God's words?"

When God says, "speak to the rock" am I "striking the rock" like Moses?  Apparently God's words need a little help from me.  Maybe I can jazz His words up a little and people would be impressed with me.  Am I more concerned with the congregation hearing what God has said or am I wrapped up in how I deliver it for the greatest applause?  Do I trust what God has said and that it is sufficient and not to be supplemented?

The second one-liner is a question.

"How many relationships do you have that are not connected 

to a service of your tasks?"

"Ouch."  I think there are some relationships that you may have with others that are on this level because they are tied to specific tasks.  I have a relationship with the oil change guy because he changes my oil.  But, are all my relationships like this?  Is everyone a pawn being used by me in my grand chess game?  Am I manipulating God's people to get God's work done?  

I am in quicksand if I am getting sloppy with God's words and I don't have some relationships that are not tied to some service I need done.

The third one-liner question is a two-fer,...

"How do you respond to interruptions 

and do you create space for feedback from others?"

I can get so wrapped up in what I am doing that an interruption is addressed with a "huff" rather than "hello."  I don't know why I keep falling back into this one because I have had so many interruptions first responded with a huff and it ended up being in front of someone who taught me something incredible from God.  The interruption was used of God to get my attention.  Why don't I see that interruption in light of past experiences of significant growth?

I need to have people in my life other than my wife who can give me feedback on a regular basis.  I can say that but will I allow it to happen and not roar back at them (bite of their head) in opposition to what they are saying about me?  I think the key is to set up open space for feedback when you are in a good spot and not when the wheels are coming off your cart.  When a tough time comes up, you are have in practice this receiving of corrective instruction.

The fourth one-liner is,

"I need to recognize the burden it is to work with me."

Oh how we look outward and not inward.  We shake our heads at others actions and words and think we are such a dream to work with.  "They should be so thankful that we are here because without us, it wouldn't be what it is today."  The danger is when we start saying this to God.  I am sure God has shook His head many times at my actions and words and put up with the burden called "me."

The last one-liner is a Biblical reality check.

"You can't manage your sin, you need to repent of it."

• You are getting sloppy with God's words.
• All your relationships are tied to getting what you want done.
• You are irritated by interruptions. 
• You have so space for corrective feedback. 
• You see the flaws of others and only the blessings of you.
• You try to do something else with sin rather than what God says is the only solution, repent.  
• You are in deep into you.

The only way out of this is to find a place and get on your knees before God.  No excuses.  No rationalizations.  No mulligans.  No finger pointing.  No nothing.  Sin is sin and it can't be managed.  It has to be confessed and repented of to be back on track to participate in a ministry that is God honoring.  

Is the ministry I am currently in truly honoring Him 

or is it focused on honoring me?

Adam