In his book The Pastor’s Guide to Effective Ministry, Dallas Willard writes, “The quality of our souls will indelibly touch others for good or for ill.”
Most of us who want to share Jesus in a meaningful way with others often default to trying to figure out how to impress everyone else. We know our audience is fickle and wants something new that stimulates the senses. The 1990s saw this approach ramp up with pastors spending obscene amounts of money, trying to pull in crowds with productions and creative ways to present the gospel. The marketing of Jesus jumped to a whole new level, and Christians were buying.
There were a few problems with this approach. The first one was that many pastors were launched into a “stardom” within their circles, and they had no ballast. There was no inner life to counteract the voices that said, “Wow, you are special! Your church led the local news! You’re friends with the governor! Someone just donated a million dollars to your building fund! Your book is a bestseller! You are a star!” Because they lacked the solid, God-centered humility and spiritual depth needed to survive the ups and downs of ministry, they burned bright…and then they burned out.
The second problem was they forgot that people really do crave the simple gospel of Jesus Christ. Humans, made in the image of God, want to know how to find him. They want the message simply presented and the directions to be clear. They want the messenger to be someone who truly knows God and puts him first in their own lives.
Whether you are a missionary living the lonely life of service in a remote area or a pastor of a large congregation in the city, your inner life is the most important thing in your life. My love for Jesus, and my hunger to know him better and deeper every day, outranks all that I am and everything I do. Through the noise and demands of modern church life and leadership, we must stay grounded in God. He calls us to him, to dine alone in his presence, every day.
“I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure” (Psalm 16:8-9, ESV).