Ministry is a funny thing.
We want to plan, but we want God to be the doer.
We want to be diligent, but isn’t it up to God anyways?
Recently, I’ve been plagued with the thoughts that maybe I’m wasting a junkload of time doing something that doesn’t matter in the end – driving down the details. We have a pretty small staff for a church of our size, which means I’m a part of the planning for some of the main objectives (teachings, events, initiatives, etc).
I haven’t always been someone who tries to drive down to the nitty gritty, and I am by no means a detailed person. However, when it comes time to make some hard-and-fast decisions that affect practical items, I get pretty picky. Most times, my opinions bring a level of paralysis, because I can usually come up with enough cons to veto anything.
Lately, I’ve started questioning my tendency to pick the details apart. Don’t get me wrong, I think that we should all be diligent in our work. However, in ministry, we should be calling on the Holy Spirit to make it happen, right?
Or should we be asking for empowerment instead?
Noah dealt with this (Genesis 6:5-8). He had it way worse, too. He didn’t have anything to go from. This dude was a part of God’s plan when God’s plan hadn’t been fully revealed yet. All he knew was that God told him to build a big boat, because he was sorry that he’d made humans, and he was going to kill them all via a giant flood (I’m sure you’ve seen the cutesy version of that story on a flannelgraph, so I’ll move on).
God didn’t stop at merely asking Noah to build a boat. He told Noahspecifically how to build it, right down to the materials he should use. If you read it (Genesis 6:14-22), you can see that God didn’t spare many details; and if He did, it must not have been a crucial part of the project.
We see this attention to detail again later when God told Solomon to build a temple. The instructions were crazy detailed!
So what can we infer from all this; that God is the annoying uncle standing behind you, as you build something, reminding you that “you’re doing it all wrong?”
Not at all.
Here’s what I take from Scripture. In any case in the Bible in which God spoke to someone with a command, a few things happened.
1. God spoke.
2. The hearer listened.
3. The hearer either obeyed or disobeyed.
4. God’s plan prevails, whether by the obedience of the hearer, or by their disobedience.
Before I enter a Romans-like diatribe, let me cap it off. I’m not saying that we can clearly disobey God, and it all go well for us. What I am saying is that God is on His throne whether you obey or not. Similarly, His plan will prevail whether you choose to be a positive element or not. It seems to me that those on whom God called were chosen by Him (that’s cool in itself). In the cases in which those on whom God called were unqualified (ummm…all of them), He qualified and equipped them (also very cool).
If God has called you to lead, then lead. Follow Him with every last bit of strength in you. Watch His commands with a watchful eye. When He gives you freedom, lead freely. After all, creativity is an element that God has exhibited since the beginning of time as we know it. Get involved in the details until God moves you another direction.
Is God in the details? I believe so. Sometimes, we don’t have them upfront. But the key was never to be detailed. The key is to follow as best as we know how. Then, we’ll truly lead.