​In Acts 20 I believe we see the secrets for healthy ministry and for healthy leaders. Paul is talking with the Ephesian believers he has served for two years. He says to them “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:18-21). First, Paul lived openly before them. Second, he passionately loved them. Third, he selflessly served them. Fourth, he was grounded in the Gospel. Openness, passion, selflessness, and groundedness. These are the ingredients of a godly leader. In this post we’ll look at the second quality of a godly leader, passion.

Passion
When reading any of Paul’s epistles it is hard to miss his passion for serving Jesus Christ. It exudes from his being. We see his passion in verse 20, “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable...”. He did not shrink to declare anything that was profitable. His passion was for God and their benefit. There was a fire in side of him. This is what, I believe, makes Paul both exciting and intimidating. We like his fire but when we look in the mirror sometimes it’s hard to find the same fire in us. Let’s take a look at those three words that describe the fire in Paul and consider what they mean: shrink, anything, and profitable.

The word translated shrink means: to draw back, withdraw or be timid. Timidity is never something Paul could be accused! He was a fighter. And he was a fighter because he was passionate. This passion reminds me of Noah who built that huge ark amid the taunts of the people around him, and King David who went to face Goliath when no one else was brave enough to face him, and Peter who moved past his sins and failures and followed Christ even to death. They did not hold back or get weighed down by adversity but were fueled by a passion for God. British actor Hugh Laurie reveals the timidity that is in many of us. He says, “Messing up my lines or making a fool of myself is where you find my fears. Like a lot of English people, I'm prey to embarrassment - the dread that everyone's sort of sniggering at you, that you're going to look like an idiot. I think that sort of halts us all.” It is easy to be burdened by fears, inadequacies, others, or our past. But when a love for God is in our heart, and He firmly and gently reigns, then we can face any fear. That love was in Paul’s heart.

Anything in this verse can mean different things in different contexts but it is used to show an all or nothing inclusivity/exclusivity. It can mean: any, none, all, or nothing. So in this context it means Paul held back nothing, he told them everything. This goes against our desire to tell people only what they want to hear or to share with them out of our pet interests. Paul was willing to tell the Ephesians whatever they needed in order to be followers of Jesus. And what did he share with them? A similar verse at verse 27 tells us, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God”. He passionately declared to them all of God’s Word.

Paul did not shrink to declare anything that was profitable. Something that is profitable is something that helps or advances or grows. It is for one’s good. Paul makes the profitability of God’s Word clear in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Sometimes we can be so wrapped up in ourselves or in our ministry that we can forget that what we do is for God’s glory and for the benefit of others. We offer something good when it is a benefit for another person’s health. We offer something good when we fan the flame in someone else.

Paul’s passion was not self-serving or miss-guided. His passion was in living out his love for God and his love for others (Matthew 22:37-40) and he desired to see that passion within everyone he met. This passion is what made Paul such a great leader.

Prayer
My God, and Savior, grow in me the passion that Paul and other heroes of the faith had. Let it be a passion for You, Your Word, and for other people. Let me have the courage to “fan into flame the gift of God” that is in me (2 Timothy 1:6). And may I remember that this passion is what brought Jesus to the cross to bear Your holy wrath against our sins. In Jesus name, Amen.    

Photo from http://playguitar.com/how-to-easy-campfire-blues/
Hugh Laurie quote from brainyquote.com
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

In Acts 20 I believe we see the secrets for healthy ministry and for healthy leaders. Paul is talking with the Ephesian believers he has served for two years. He says to them “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:18-21). First, Paul lived openly before them. Second, he passionately loved them. Third, he selflessly served them. Fourth, he was grounded in the Gospel. Openness, passion, selflessness, and groundedness. These are the ingredients of a godly leader. In this post let’s look at the first quality of a godly leader, openness.

Openness
“You yourselves know how I lived among you...” Paul’s life was an open book. He didn’t hide behind titles or learning. He lived so that people could see who he really was at anytime of the day or night.

Believe it or not, I was the perfect Christian until I got married. I mean, I did everything pretty much just right (at least I thought) until I started living with another human being. When I started living with my wife Lisa I began to see the true nature of my heart through our relationship and conversations. Somehow, I hadn’t realized that I wasn’t always a joy to be around. That sometimes, I was lazy, or inconsiderate, or selfish. These things had never dawned on me. So, my bride Lisa knows the real me, and now, years later, my kids know the real me. But if I am careful...if I’m really careful, I can still keep most people in the dark about who I really am. I can smile, and be generous and likeable in public during the week and only let the “real me” out at home.

This was not what Paul did. He lived openly and he showed them who he really was. And in the text we see his heart – he was humble, and he cried tears, and he endured trials. He could not have said he was humble if the Ephesians had seen him as a proud jerk. They would have stopped him right there. And he could not have said something about his tears if they hadn’t seen him shed some over the years. And he could not have cited trials if they had not witnessed any. He could only say these things because they were evident in how he lived.

Living life open to other people can be scary but it is the only way for healthy ministry. And Social media, though helpful at times, is not where we live out in front of people. We are always smart enough to put our best foot forward and make our lives look as interesting as we want them to be on Facebook or Twitter. It is only in honestly living and working with people, face to face, where God can begin to show us who we really are, where we need to repent, and we can learn to become dependent on His limitless grace.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to live honestly and openly with other people. Help me share my faults and fears so they will see your grace at work in my life. Lord, have mercy on me when I repent of sin against others and lovingly shape me into the image of Christ. Amen.

Photo: © by Charlie Pruitt (taken from, http://www.studiooutside.us/little-free-library/)
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

​I don’t usually talk about my accomplishments very much but there are some things I’ve done in my life that I am proud of.  I’m proud to have earned two degrees, one a B.A. in Music Composition and the other a Master of Divinity in Church Music.  I’m proud to have played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Southern Seminary Orchestra…from memory (I’ve never been more nervous than before that performance)!  I’m proud to have written and arranged a good deal of music.  I’m proud to have four wonderful boys and a wonderful wife.  I’m proud to live in America.  I’m proud to be serving in a wonderful church that has a 200 year old heritage.  There are things I am proud of.  

But there also some things I’m not proud of.  I’m not proud of failing my senior year of high school.  Oops (I did graduate the following year).  I’m not proud of the time I tried to run away from home.  I’m not proud of once thinking abortion was ok.  I’m not proud of lying to my parents.  I’m not proud of yelling at my kids.  I’m not proud of treating my wife in unloving ways.  I’m not proud of all the ways I’ve hurt other people and God by the things I’ve done or not done.

I have pride and guilt in my life, accomplishments and regrets.  When I rest in my accomplishments I feel good.  When I remember and meditate on my sins and mistakes I feel sad.  I can do the same thing with God.  I have served Him for about 19 years now in churches and sometimes, when I think about my accomplishments, I can feel pretty good about my relationship with God.  But when I think over those years about the sins I’ve committed or the apathetic way I have lived my life sometimes I can feel ashamed and God feels far away.  Both of these views though, self-righteous pride and depressing guilt, do not in any way determine my relationship with God.   

I will never be good enough to ever earn His love and favor and I will never be bad enough to lose them.  The only thing that matters in my relationship with God and determines my standing with Him is Jesus Christ.  Now, pride in accomplishments or pride in a job well done is ok but self-righteous pride that counts me worthy for eternal life and discounts the perfect life that Christ lived in my behalf, so that I could be right before God, is sinful.  And guilt can be useful, telling me something is wrong in my life, and can give me the kick in the pants to make things right but wallowing in guilt only discounts the death Christ died on the cross to reconcile me to God and is also sinful.         

I have things I am proud of but I am learning to “count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).  And I have regrets but I need to remember that “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).  This is what it means to rest in Christ.  Resting in His accomplishments and resting in His punishment for our guilt.  What are you proud of?  What are your regrets?  May they all “grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace”.