Ron Harris

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the job you are called to do? Ministry or not, it can sometimes be exhausting. We know the scripture about not getting tired…growing weary.

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Galatians 6:9 NLT

Sometimes that just sounds like “gutting it out.” Staying with the job until it finally gets done, no matter how tired, exhausted, or overwhelmed you feel. I don’t think that is what God means.

Fred Smith, in his book Leading with Integrity shed some light on this. He tells the story of arriving at a three-day men’s retreat where he was to speak only to learn he was the only speaker. That was a much larger assignment than he had expected. After the retreat was over and Smith was flying home, he realized he wasn’t exhausted, even after a much more strenuous weekend than he had anticipated. He came to an interesting conclusion.

Fred Smith said that God’s presence permeated that retreat, and he realized that the Lord was the source of all he presented. His conclusion? God is the pump…I am only the pipe. Smith shared his revelation.

“The pipe never gets tired. When I attempt to be the pump as well as the pipe, that takes more than I have. When I try to substitute my power for God’s, I become powerless, dissatisfied, even frantic and defeated.”

Does that sound familiar? Most of us in leadership come to a place where we are depleted. We have given all we have to give, done all we know to do, and feel we come up short. Maybe we are trying to be the pump.

I often told our radio station staff that at our best, the radio ministry was just a big plastic pipe. You can buy pipe like that at a hardware store for very little money. There is not much value in the pipe…until you consider what that pipe delivers. Yet the pipe isn’t the pump. The pipe in our situation, is simply delivering to the recipients…listeners, viewers, or readers…God’s Truth and insight.

Peter and John were called before the religious leaders to answer to them. That would have been a time of great stress. But the accounts in Acts 4 indicate the religious leaders of the day were amazed at the confidence and boldness they showed. These two disciples had an explanation.

We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.

Acts 4:20 NLT

They were saying, “We are just pipes, not the pump. We are just sharing what the Lord has shown us and told us. Pipes…not the pump.”

We often get caught up in working for God…and not letting Him work through us. Working for God is in our own strength and wisdom. Letting God work through us gives us all the resources needed to accomplish what He would have us do.

If you think about it, God doesn’t need us to think up things for Him…and then ask Him to bless these human ideas. God has a plan. As Henry Blackaby has taught us, the greatest thing is to see where God is at work, and then join Him there. And when you are following His path and His plan, you are energized for all He wants to accomplish through you.

The key is to be sensitive to the Lord’s Holy Spirit. To work in the light of what the Spirit is showing us and to move in the way God is leading us. And the way to find that path…is to ask…and then listen to the Lord’s response.

God’s best…

When the pandemic hit in 2020 most of us though it would be over in weeks…at worst, a few months. The months stretched into a year and more…and the powerful disease continues to disrupt lives and plans, not to speak of the deaths and health issues swirling around us. It is tragic, and it seems to be never ending. If the pattern of new variants continues, we could be battling Covid for quite a while.

So, in ministry, what do we do? Many questions come up these days:

1. How do we continue to minister with the new (and often changing) restrictions?
2. How do we accomplish our mission and keep our staff and volunteers safe?
3. How do we manage in times of crisis that seem to change almost daily?

Leadership expert John Maxwell reminds us:

“The place to handle a crisis is not from behind a desk but in front of the people. A leader’s visible presence during times of crisis inspires confidence and gives others a sense of security.”

It’s easy to get trapped into sitting in our office strategizing how to utilize our resources best… when your best resources are your people…and they need a visible leader. Today’s employees value open, transparent leadership. Share your plan for guiding your organization through the crisis to help decrease anxiety and give your team a sense of direction. As one management leader said, “You may not know your strategy, but you can certainly talk about your values, priorities, and observations.”

Here are some ideas to help you:

• Communicate verbally with the team.
• Send out frequent written communications, with both information and inspiration included.
• Speak personally to as many staff members as you can, even if it is a brief conversation.
• Ask their opinion on a ministry direction or procedure.

Of course, be sure to continue to show appreciation to your staff and volunteers. When you work in challenging and changing situations, it’s easy to feel lost and under-appreciated. As a leader, you need to double-down on showing how much you appreciate the team and their work in these difficult days.

Everyone likes to be appreciated. And during times of crisis, this is especially true. The team members need the reinforcement that when things are anything but normal, they are still “hitting the marks” and accomplishing the job. The leader may think his staff understands how much they are appreciated. But according to one estimate, 85 percent of employees in the U.S. report being overworked and under-appreciated.

Eighty-five percent!

Through the years I have discovered that the part about feeling overworked is made worse when the team member feels under-appreciated. Show honest appreciation, and that team member…whether an employee or volunteer…will often gladly give you that 110 percent you are hoping to see.

In Paul’s letter to the Christ-followers in Thessalonica, he gave them similar instructions of appreciation as they serve with fellow believers.

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT

Yes, these are difficult days for all of us. Yet our mission goes on. Our need to share hope increases. And the only hope of lasting value is what we have to offer…Jesus. Again, God’s Word has instructions and encouragement for us.

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Galatians 6:9 NLT

With the Lord’s encouragement and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can not only just get through a crisis…we can flourish.

God’s best…

As a kid, I remember great family vacations. Dad would always drive, Mom would be in the front seat with him, and we three kids filled up the back seat of the old 1949 Chevy sedan. And yes…there were those times my mom would have to say, “Don’t make me come back there!” Or my dad would sternly say over his shoulder while zipping down the two-lane road, “Do you want me to pull this car over to the side of the road?” We never answered “yes.”

On occasion, my dad would say, “If you see a root beer stand, I’ll stop.” The prospect of getting a frosty soft drink was a delight to our ears. However, I remember thinking, “I haven’t seen a root beer stand for days. We’ll never stop.”

Guess what? It wasn’t long before we would enter a small town and one of the three of us kids would yell, “Look, Dad. A root beer stand!” Sure enough. We had found what we were searching for. As I look back, I realize we had probably passed many root beer stands. But until we were actually focused on looking…searching…for those stands did we actually find them.

I thought of those days as I read a recent devotional from Lead Like Jesus. In it, the writer talked about fulfilling God’s purpose.

“What does it mean for you to live today in light of God’s purpose? As if every person you encounter is valuable to God. As if your interaction with people holds the potential to demonstrate the reality of a living, personal God who cares about them. As if God were orchestrating events to bring about His purposes in this time and place. What difference would this make?”

If I am not careful, many days I can go along, focused on what I am doing in ministry and with family, and miss what the Lord has for me as part of His purpose…His plan. There are people whom God has placed with you in ministry. What would the Lord have you do or say that would keep them moving forward toward all that God wants them to be? Or are you more interested in what they accomplish to fulfill your plan and schedule?

Most of us as leaders in ministry sense the urgency of accomplishing things for the Lord. But in that urgency, do we overlook God’s overarching purpose and plan? Like us kids in the back of that 1949 Chevrolet sedan, we can be happily zipping down the highway and miss something.

So, what is God’s purpose and plan? The Apostle Paul passed that wisdom on to young Timothy:

He [God] is the one who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not based on our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began…

2 Timothy 1:9 NET

I don’t recall a single time when Dad mentioned getting a root beer that we kids replied, “No, thanks. There aren’t any stands here. We haven’t seen any. Let’s just go on.” No, we became focused on the thought of something exciting and refreshing…and it caused us to look intently down the road to find what we were looking for.

Do you think what the Lord has for you today is better than anything you could do for Him? Would you rather hope to please our heavenly Father, or do what He has already planned for His purpose in our lives? Which do you think would be the most satisfying…the most refreshing?

The devotional I read closed with this prayer:

“Lord, lift my eyes from the daily tasks that fill my day so that I re-focus on Your purpose and grace. Then let me look at the people with whom I interact through Your eyes and help me to accomplish Your purposes in what I do and say. May my life reveal Your life to them as I serve them in Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.”

God’s best…

A few years ago, a book came out with an intriguing title: UN-Marketing. The author, Scott Stratten, is active in digital marketing, primarily aimed at the commercial world. As I read through the book I wondered if there might be an application for us in Christian media.

Most of us have a need to “market” our ministries. Sometimes it is to raise needed funds for the work we do to spread hope to the people God has place before us and on our hearts. Other times it is to draw in the very people we want to reach so we can share God’s Good News. And even though it sounds like an “un-holy” word (like public relations!) it can be elevated to good use when we do it right.

What is marketing? The American Marketing Association says this:

“Marketing is the activity… and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

That sounds good. Creating, communicating, and delivering things that have value…for society at large. That could easily apply to ministry work. So, why un-marketing? Stratton says that instead of the traditional ways of marketing, such as direct mail or advertising, companies and organizations should focus on engaging with their audience.

We hear that in the social media world. It isn’t just about a cleverly designed Instagram post or Facebook ad. It is about soliciting a response from the reader. Engaging them in a conversation and developing a relationship with them. Then, in the context of that relationship, delivering the message…the “product.”

Want a biblical example of that? Think of Jesus as he traveled through Samaria. While the disciples went into town to buy food, Jesus lingered at the ancient water well. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, He asked her to do the same for Him. She was shocked! A Jew asking a Samaritan woman for something? That was out of the normal boundaries of the day. By that question alone Jesus had gotten her attention. He had engaged her in conversation.

It gets better. As she stood there surprised at the conversation, Jesus tells the woman, “If you knew about the gift God has for you, and who you are speaking to, you would ask, and I would give you living water.” Intrigue. What could this man possibly mean? He was building a relationship. And when she balked and offered up objections, saying, “You don’t even have anything to draw water with,” Jesus gave her an amazing offer.

Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.

John 4:13-14 NLT

Of course, the conversation went on and became very personal. And the result of the whole encounter was that revival broke out in Samaria. Amazing.

The traditional way of marketing would have been to put posters up in town advertising the fact that Jesus was coming to Samaria. Meet at the well and hear his message. Then Jesus would have started off his message with, “If anyone believes in me, he will have eternal life.”

By taking a non-traditional way to engage his audience…the Samaritan woman at the well…Jesus was able to deliver a strong message that caused the woman to go throughout the town telling others to come hear the man Jesus. (Word-of-mouth advertising is always strong.)

Un-marketing? Well, certainly un-usual. And very effective. As I think of it, the most memorable times of Jesus’ life were when He engaged people in their world and their time of need, and then shared the hope of eternal life. Nicodemus. This Samaritan woman. Zacchaeus. The thief on the cross. Building relationships by engaging them.

What can you do today to build relationships with the people you want to influence? Don’t look to clever marketing. Look to engaging with others and then delivering the only message that matters today…hope in Jesus.

God’s best…

All the restoration work on my home has reminded me of the original construction of the place some 18 years ago. I was able to watch over just about every step of the process. We had lots of skilled workers on every part of the job.

One of the teams that stands out in my mind was the one pouring the foundation. They were amazing. Along with engineers and architects, they did something that gets little attention today but is critical to the integrity of our home. Some would say, “You poured a lot of money into the ground when you built that place.” They are right. It wasn’t cheap or easy. But it was extremely important. Let me explain.

The soil in our part of Texas is known for the way it contracts and expands…and shifts. It is hard to find a house that doesn’t have cracks in the walls…or worse. To counteract that, over 60 holes were drilled 18 to 20 feet deep, filled with reinforcement iron and cement. And the full foundation was poured over those piers. The depth of the holes meant the foundation was sitting on bedrock, not just the shifting soil.

In addition, the lot we were building on slopes downward toward the back of the lot. So, part of the foundation work was the construction of a reinforced retaining wall at the front. It was one foot thick, and it was carefully designed to hold back the dirt and the water that can accumulate against it over the years. Those become subtle forces that push harder and harder, trying to destroy that wall. Careful engineering and strong reinforcement have done their job.

And then the main foundation was poured. Above that foundation, the walls to our home soar almost 30 feet high, with a stone chimney that is probably 45 feet high. Lots of weight on that foundation, for sure.

I think you may already be making a spiritual application to my construction story. Author John Maxwell has a book called The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. In it, Maxwell lists the “Law of Solid Ground.” It’s among the first in his list…and that makes sense. He says that solid ground is trust. A leader, if he or she is to be successful, must have the trust of the people around that leader. Trust is critical. Here is how I see this point as it relates to the foundation of my home.

First, a person who leads effectively must be a person of integrity. What you say is what you do. You keep your word. In other words, you have drilled deep down to bedrock…the truth of God’s Word…and made that the foundation of your life. Not shifting with the times or with the culture of the day. Rock solid in what you build your life upon.

Second, an effective leader builds strong barriers, a reinforced wall, to keep from being pushed this way and that by the pressures of the day. Sometimes those pressures are overt and obvious. Other times they are very subtle. But over time, those subtle pressures build up, and soon the foundation and the entire building can be compromised. That can happen to a leader who does not spend time setting boundaries.

Finally, if a foundation is going to hold, it needs to be reinforced. I watched as the work crew put in hundreds of feet of reinforcing steel…rebar…to hold the foundation together. The successful leader also needs to have his personal and spiritual foundation reinforced. That’s why spending time daily in God’s Word is so critical. It helps keep the foundation of your life solid and together.

Jesus talked about the importance of a solid foundation in His parable of the man who built his house on the sand versus the one who built his home on solid ground. Both were fine as long as the sun was shining, and the storms didn’t come. But when they arrived, the value of a solid foundation became obvious. Then Jesus made the application.

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.

Matthew 7:24-25 NLT

If you come to my home, you probably won’t notice the foundation. I’ve never had anyone walk in and say, “Wow, what a beautiful foundation!” What you will see is the result of all the effort to build a rock-solid platform upon which to build a home that will stand the test of time.

Is it perfect? No. There are some small cracks here and there. But they can be easily repaired. However, the integrity of the home is not compromised. It is standing the test of time.

What about your life? Your leadership? Your relationships? If you have done your work in building a solid foundation, it is likely these areas will be strong. And you will be an effective leader, proclaiming God’s Truth in a way that allows others to trust…to trust you, and then to trust their lives to Christ. Then, with you as an example, they can start their own foundation work.

God’s best…

I heard the other day of a U.S. fighter jet that shot itself down. True. Here’s how it happened.

A number of years ago a test pilot was flying an F-11F Tiger jet to test its capabilities at supersonic flight. It was outfitted with weapons, including four cannons. In the test flight, pilot Tom Attridge took the jet to twenty thousand feet, then dropped to thirteen thousand and fired a burst from the four cannons. He then switched on the afterburners and fired a second volley. Suddenly, Attridge felt the plane shudder, and saw that both the canopy and one of the engines had been damaged, as if hit by enemy fire.

Attridge tried to get the crippled jet back to the base but crashed just short of the runway. Thankfully he survived, but the multi-million-dollar plane was destroyed. When they examined the pieces and looked at the damage, the engineers determined that the plane had flown into its own weapon projectiles. He had shot his own plane down!

A pastor friend was telling that story the other day and shared some interesting thoughts from a book, The Strength You Need, by Robert J. Morgan. Some of it may apply to you as you hurry to run a ministry, lead others, care for your family, and serve in other capacities.

Like the jet that shot itself down, you may be moving too fast. You may be your own worst enemy by causing yourself to be exhausted from all the busy activity you have taken on. There are some signs that that is happening in your life.

First, you don’t have time for God’s Word. You don’t spend quality time reading the Bible to see what the Lord has for you. And believe me, God has a specific word for you.

Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

Romans 15:4 NLT

Second, you don’t have time for quality prayer time with the Lord. Quick prayers are okay if they are from a person who also spends quality time…extended time…in prayer. But if that quick prayer is all the time you have, then you may be moving too fast. How do you think the disciples felt when they heard Jesus say, “Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger.” (Matthew 26:40, 41 MSG)

Third, your church attendance begins to fall off. You allow other things to get in the way of being with other believers in corporate worship. There is a reason the writer of Hebrews admonished his fellow believers:

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:25 NLT

Fourth, you don’t us the spiritual gifts you have been given. As we mentioned recently, the Apostle Paul urged young Timothy to use the gift he had received. Each of us has a spiritual gift that the Lord has given us. It is to be a compliment to others in the fellowship of believers, and when you aren’t exercising it, the body isn’t functioning as God intended.

The scripture that often haunts me… “Be still and know that I am God.” In my busyness, in the rapid pace of life, as I think I must run from here to there and back again just to keep the ministry plates spinning, the Lord says, “Slow down. Relax. Renew your trust in Me in every area of your life.”

And though the Lord doesn’t say it in so many words…be careful that you don’t shoot yourself down by flying too fast.

God’s best…

If you have worked in ministry for very long, you have probably dealt with these barriers to your productive work. Boredom. Frustration. Disappointment. It happens. Sometimes it is the result of a job or task that is repetitive…and often doesn’t seem to go anywhere. You do it again and again…and don’t see any lasting result.

Maybe it is the many limitations to ministry that bring on frustration. Not enough resources…money. Not enough help. Not enough time for all that must be done. And possibly the mental and emotional roadblocks come because of thing that just don’t turn out the way you thought they should. A key staff person leaves. A project you were working on must be shut down. Expansion that you felt was necessary just won’t happen in the current climate. On and on the challenges come.

All of these things are hard. They take a toll on a leader who is trying to chart a path to greater impact of the Gospel.

What do you do?

As hard as it sounds, you just keep on. You come in the next day and plunge into the work. You look at the tasks and decide how you can do them better, or even determine if you should delegate them to someone else. You don’t give up. You don’t give in. You give it your best…anyway!

Eugene H. Peterson has a book in whose title itself is instructive to us: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society. We seem to want instant gratification in just about every area of our lives. We want to blink problems away. We want to have a magic pill that fixes things…and does so quickly. We drum our fingers on the top of the microwave because it’s too slow!

Peterson says most people today want some sort of “religious experience” without the effort. Peterson says:

“…there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.”

A long obedience in the same direction.

Now, if we aren’t careful, that “long obedience” seems like trudging down a muddy lane to get to the next destination. No joy. No sense of accomplishment. No great prospects of accomplishing much.

And even the Scripture that remind us, “Our ways are not God’s ways,” rings hollow in our heart.

My suggestion is to look at the big picture of what the Lord is doing through us and our ministry work. What is the ultimate goal? What are the end results of your work? What is the “finished product?” Business management consultant Peter Drucker says the product of a nonprofit is a “changed life.” The ultimate changed life is one that has surrendered to Christ as Lord of their life. Is that worth the times of boredom, frustration, and even disappointment? Yes!

While writing this I was dealing with a bit of disappointment in our MEDIAlliance ability to minister internationally due to the covid pandemic. This morning in my Bible study I came across a passage in Ecclesiastes that helped me deal with that disappointment.

Accept the way God does things,

for who can straighten what he has made crooked?

Ecclesiastes 7:13 NLT

The road may seem crooked. It may seem boring, frustrating, and even disappointing. But our sovereign Lord is ahead of us on that path. Our goal is a long obedience in the same direction…toward the Lord’s call in our life. As the Apostle Paul said, “I press on to the high calling…”

God’s best…