Monday, October 16, 2017

A devotional on Jeremiah 1: Don't be paralyzed

God appointed Jeremiah to a vocation to go to Jerusalem and to preach a message of coming disaster, repentance and salvation. Jeremiah had very good reasons to resist this vocation. His situation may mirror our own as we try to do the Lord's work.

(1) He was from the town of Anathoth (Jeremiah 1:1). Anathoth was a little town near Jerusalem. It was one of the Levite towns where Levites who were not of the family of high priests lived. Many of them were priests' assistants. Many had their own non-priestly vocations. The people of Anathoth were "of the priests" but they did not have titles to go with their names. They did not have "office." So Jeremiah, the priest's go-for, was being told to go to the official priests in Jerusalem and tell them that the ruin of Judah is their fault. "Yeah," they would probably say. "Where did you say you got your education? Are you ordained?"

(2) He was too young (Jeremiah 1:6). The path to leadership is all wrong. Socially speaking, it is the duty of the young to prepare for leadership. It is their place. It is not their place to actually lead. Right? The path to leadership normally consists of pretend-leading while under the wise oversight of older, more experienced leaders. That is all well and good; but some "experienced leaders" find it their role to mentor young leaders whether or not they want or need it. Beware of the leadership mentor who coaches you to not teach some things on the basis that they make people feel uncomfortable. Beware of the leadership mentor who wants to take over a ministry you started on your own. You are certainly wise to listen to all advice. However, a mentor who wants to "oversee" your personal ministry, he may be looking for a way to shut you down. Finally, if someone tries to mentor you without asking, be polite. Keep the good stuff. Brush off the bad stuff. Keep up the good work.

(3) The message he was to preach would put young Jeremiah in mortal peril. Jeremiah was afraid. God agreed that Jeremiah would face violent resistance from kings, princes, priests and a lot of regular people (Jeremiah 1:18). God said that he would provide divine protection and boldness for Jeremiah.

Functional ministry, for some reason, is very rarely convenient. Is it ever convenient?

God rarely, if ever, tells us verbally what to do. However, he has gifted each of us with something useful. We quite often have experiences similar to Jeremiah's.

(1) I notice a situation that needs ministerial attention.

(2) Nobody is addressing the situation.

(3) I realize that I am gifted in some important way to address the situation.

(4) I am reluctant to act on it because I am not properly "titled" to do that ministry (I am not a church officer). I lack a credential. I lack permission. I fear backlash.

The message from Jeremiah is that the above indicators signal that I am the one who must move forward with ministry. Yes, there will be backlash. There will be sabotage. I must not be paralyzed.

Too often we wait for God to show us open doors. What if God shows us a closed door and notifies us that it needs to be opened? He may be saying, "I have appointed you to get that door open."

To say it in Pogo language, "I has met the minister and the minister is me."

No comments:

Post a Comment