Thoughts on Servanthood w/ Wiersbe

Dang...it's been a while.

I've just started reading this book, "On Being A Servant Of God" by Wiersbe, an awesome dude, but this book looks ancient. Anyway, he's jacking me up! First, he's got a life-changing definition of ministry: Ministry is "when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God" (1993, p. 3). He then gives the example of the lame (crippled, not moron) dude in front of the temple in Acts 3, who was begging for cash. Peter & John acknowledged that they're poor, but what they do have, they give to him...and the lame dude was healed! Clearly, that was a divine resource (healing of a cripple) meeting a human need (need to be whole) through loving channels (Peter & John showed compassion) to the glory of God...as verse 9 puts it, "So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them-walking, leaping, and praising God.

What's frustrating in ministry is when we become what Wiersbe calls, manufactures instead of distributors. We must remember that it's God's power, strength, and might at work (especially in Acts 3). When we try to "do" ministry on our own power, we try to manufacture what only God can produce. We MUST rely on God's power to do anything and everything! Then, we can be diligent servants that distribute what God's made/done.

I find this true for me in Echo. When I try to manufacture righteousness in students or whatever, it flops. But recently, people have been stepping up in all kinds of leadership challenges...and it's not because of ME! God's just doing something and I'm doing my best to be a diligent servant, distributing what God's doing in the hearts and lives of these high schoolers...and it's AWESOME!!!