A Replenishment Strategy

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  Romans 8:6

 

Sometimes the external part of a church leaders life appears to be incredibly fruitful; people are joining small groups, people are abundantly serving the community and helping those in need, new ministries are being formed to open doors to new opportunities to grow the church, everything “appears” to be prosperous.

The part that no one can see is the viciousness of a leader’s interior life. An ever revolving and often tormenting questioning, “Am I doing this for me or fulfilling requests made by others? (or) Am I doing this because the Holy Spirit desires it to be so?”  The internal can’t be measured on charts and graphs, so it goes unnoticed and is not considered to be harmful; mainly because all the externals are positive.

However, this internal battle of Self vs. Holy Spirit is something that can cause potential burnout – not only to the leader but also to the church as a whole.  Others say “do more, we are doing great!”  So we continue to do more even when the Holy Spirit desires for us to rest and live life in a state of peaceful abundance.

We can be growing our churches and it’s not the glow of God at all.  We need to remember that the pace at which we grow does not necessarily ‘honor’ God.  There is honor in transforming hearts through Christ only, a gift that gives eternal rewards.

Living life in the Spirit and feeling a sense of peace requires an adequate replenishment strategy.

You start every day in devotion to God, centering yourself to do God's Will and not your own.  Invite the Holy Spirit to be present within you.  When you are good with God, you are good with your family, you live at your very best when you are filled-up; there becomes a sense of peace instead of anxiety that carries you throughout the day. 

What makes church leaders different than leaders in the corporate world is that they lead out of a deep interior life that is aligned by the Holy Spirit.  Doing God’s Will is success, not numbers.  It is not buildings, it is not how many small groups are offered, it's really “Am I doing God’s Will?”, “Is our church doing God’s Will?”  So the fact that we (as a church) can do something like increase our staff by adding another Pastor or funding a new ministry, doesn’t mean it’s God’s time to do it.

⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6