Making God’s mission into an idol is a common and serious fault. Sometimes the people who fear insignificance the most are driven to accomplish the greatest things. As a result, they are highly praised for their good works, which temporarily soothes their fears until the next goal can be achieved. Gordon MacDonald called it, “missionalism” – “the belief that the worth of one’s life is determined by the achievement of a grand objective. He said,
“Missionalism starts slowly and gains a foothold in the leader’s attitude. Before long the mission controls almost everything: time, relationships, health, spiritual depth, ethics, and convictions. In advanced stages, missionalism means doing whatever it takes to solve the problem. In its worst iteration, the end always justifies the means. The family goes, health is sacrificed; integrity is jeopardized; Godconnection is limited.”
Consider what one pastor in his late thirties wrote: “The church is growing, and there’s excitement everywhere. But personally I feel less and less good about what I’m doing. I’m restless and tired. I asked myself how long I can keep all this up. Why is my touch with God so limited? Why am I feeling guilty about where my marriage is? When did this stop being fun?
When our sense of self worth is linked to the impact of our ministry, guess what the people under our care are told is important? And we birth a new generation of people who believe their value is linked to their accomplishments.
In 2012, we are going to start the year off getting our Shift together. A series of messages laser focused on getting our perspective in alignment with a relationship with God. We’ll be starting off with a message titled: The Jerk, and taking a deep look at the story of the prodigal son in light of our own lives, busyness and make an assessment of 2012. I truly believe this is going to be a pivotal year, but it must start with a renewal and reflection on valuing a relationship with God, not just his gifts.
