Steps Toward Humility
WHEN I STARTED OUT in pastoral work, I wanted to be the best pastor who ever lived. I wanted to do things for God that Moses never did. I wanted to accomplish such great things for the kingdom that the whole world would rise up and take note. I wanted to be the tool God used to bring revival to America. I wanted to build a big church, because I thought building a big church and being a successful pastor were the same thing. I imagined I would get to heaven and God would personally meet me at the gate and say something like, "You're finally here. We've been waiting for you. You're the best pastor we've ever had. Come and enjoy your Master's happiness!" As I reflect on those lofty thoughts and note that each sentence begins with "I," I think of the words of Lucifer in Isaiah 14:13-14: "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned … I will … I will make myself like the Most High." While I had no intention of becoming God, I was blind to my pride. I once heard that the only vitamin we all have too much of is Vitamin I. Pride is insidious. The more filled I am with pride, the more difficult it is to detect. Several years into my first full-time pastorate, the number of Sunday services had multiplied. People sat in the foyer and on the sidewalks outside listening to my preaching from speakers. When people commended the success, I humbly told them that God was at work. He was. But so was I—and hard at it. One day I read an article in Christianity Today on church growth by a man who had studied more than one hundred growing churches in America. He had interviewed more than fifty pastors and codified the common denominators that contributed to church growth, such as plenty of parking, vision ...
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