Let me back up.
It was my first staff meeting at Woodburn. Pastor Tim Harris was leading the devotional thought, using 1 Corinthians 3. It's a passage you probably know something about. The part that was so familiar to me that I nearly went on auto-pilot says, "After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow."
But Tim kept reading. And when he got to this part I was nearly undone:
"Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss."
I've read the Bible through more than once. I've read 1 Corinthians many times. But I don't think I've ever really seen those verses.
I was so moved that I nearly cried right there in the first 15 minutes of my first staff meeting. Looking back over the last quarter-century of ministry, how much of what I have done would be burned up in the fire? How much would survive? Far more importantly, looking ahead--will I give my attention, my time, my energy to the things that will burn up or to those that will last?
I don't think I'm naive. We all have to do some "wood, hay or straw" in day-to-day operations. But what am I devoting myself to?
I have a renewed commitment to make much of Jesus in worship, not just toys or tools. I have a deeper desire to develop deep relationships, not just chatter about the weather forcast. I yearn to build what endures far more than what will pass away.
I'm curious as I can be--does this connect with you? Leaders out there, does this rock your world? Or am I coming to this passage much later than you did?
No comments:
Post a Comment