Day 110 (Written Saturday March 31) ~ “Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.” (James Allen, As A Man Thinketh).Ambition is a wonderful and dangerous thing. It can inspire us to greatness and it can consume us and lead to ruin.
Recently a friend of mine, who happens to be a big name preacher, challenged his audience by warning about misguided views of what is success in ministry. He pointed out that it was perfectly fine to accept invitations to go and preach in gospel meetings, retreats, seminars, lectureships and “big” churches, but that this is not what it means to be a successful preacher. His point was that your priority as a preacher should be to the local congregation and not to going here and there to make a name for yourself or stroke your ego. Great point, but allow me to add a few other thoughts to that as well.
The path to honor is paved with hard work and humility. The moment you start trying to make a name for yourself, you have failed. I’ve seen that look in the eyes of many preachers. They look at other preachers with jealousy or admiration, both as the result of that preachers “success.” If he is a big name preacher you like and look up to, you have nothing but admiration. If however, he is a big name preacher, yet you think you are a much better preacher than he, you have nothing but envy and disgust. This most often happens if the big name preacher is a peer. You may even struggle with thoughts of, “I’m just as good as him” or “I’m a better preacher than him” or perhaps, “He’s a kiss up and that’s the only reason he gets these invitations.” I know this because I’ve been on both sides of that fence. I’ve heard it said by others about me, and I’ve thought it myself about others. I dare say virtually every preacher has. There is a remedy for this type of thinking.
Number #1 - Remember why you began preaching in the first place. If it was to become a big name preacher, quit as soon as possible and do not preach again until you can have humble motives. Chances are, you actually became a preacher because you genuinely love God and people and you just want to help people. A man who spends five years working with a small, country church, investing in their lives, teaching them the scriptures and helping them with their problems will do more good than a big name preacher who travels the country speaking to audiences filled with hundreds of people. It’s a matter of quality over quantity. When I think of the preachers who have had the biggest impact on my life, real life changing and saving influences, did so at 5:00 am at their kitchen table or in the car driving for a few hours on a Saturday, not in the pulpit standing before hundreds. The people who have told me that I have had a positive influence on their lives have rarely attributed it to a sermon I preached. Most often the difference was made through a conversation, or more likely, many conversations. When you are introduced before your sermon at a lectureship or gospel meeting, they will rattle off your statistics (who you are, how old you are, how long you’ve been preaching, when you graduated preaching school, what churches you’ve worked with, etc), but they never mention the truly important things you’ve accomplished. Things like helping a young married couple to decide not to get a divorce and instead begin marriage counseling, convincing a pregnant 16 year old girl to have and love her unplanned child instead of aborting it, teaching an 80 year old man the gospel and baptizing him into Christ a few months before he enters eternity, pleading with an erring Christian to come back to Christ, training young men to get up and lead a song, a prayer, to serve at the Lord’s table or preach a sermon for the first time. These are the things you do that really matter because they directly impact lives in a positive way.
Number #2 - Realize what it may cost you. Not all, but an alarmingly high number of big name preachers have paid a heavy, horrible price for their reputation....it has cost them their families. I have spent private, one on one time with a number of very famous/beloved preachers and I have asked everyone of them the same two questions. #1 - What is the best thing you’ve ever done as a preacher? (I’ve gotten some really good advice in response to that question). #2 - What would you do differently if you could go back and do it all over? Almost every single one has responded with some variation of: put my family before the church, not be gone from my family so much, spend more time with my family. Many of them are revered throughout the church, but despised within their own homes. I want everyone to go to heaven, but if I had to choose just three, I know who those three would be....my two sons and my wife. I have told my girl that I can stand at the door and listen to 300 people tell me what a great job I did or what a great sermon that was, but if I get in the car and don’t see a smile on her face it doesn’t matter if 300,000,000 people praised me. Even the praise and applause from an audience of hundreds cannot drown out the deafening silence of walking into an empty house all alone at the end of the night.
Too often big name preachers are loved by everyone except those who know them best. If every congregation thinks you are great, but the congregation you actually work for thinks you are gone too much or aren’t doing what they want/need/hired you to do, you are failing in your ministry. The reason you may be so dearly loved by other churches is because you are essentially a stranger to them. You come in for a few hours or a few days and preach a few sermons and then you are on your way. Trust me, preaching a sermon that is entertaining to listen to isn’t that hard, being an effective and beloved local preacher is.
Number #3 - Reexamine what it means to be successful. It is dangerous and foolish to think that success is linked to having a big name. Popular does not mean successful. Don’t believe me? Go back and look at your high school yearbook superlatives. Most popular doesn’t guarantee success. It is nice to be asked to come and speak at a church or an event, and even nicer when it is a large church or event and still sweeter if after you are finished they tell you how much they love you are what a good job you’ve done. That doesn’t mean you are a success, it just means you need people to stroke your ego to make you feel successful. The greatest preacher I have ever known was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows. He taught us to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and He would lift us up. Remember, if men lift you up, they can also drop you.
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