Last Wednesday in our Bible Study Fellowship we learned about Nicodemus, about his big heart and humility.  It’s that character that enabled him to come to Jesus and to hear what He had to say to him.  Based on that we concluded that spiritual growth cannot be separated from mental and emotional growth.  In other words, our knowledge of God depends on how pure and how big our heart it.  The bigger and the purer the heart is, the more accurate and the deeper our knowledge of God is, which will have a direct effect on how effective our ministry will be.  The opposite is of course true.

In his book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Pastor Peter Scazsero shares his observation about those in ministry and concludes, “work for God that is not nourished by a deep interior life WITH God will eventually be contaminated by other things such as ego, power . . . . When we work for God because of these things, our experience of the Gospel often falls off the center.  We become ‘human doings’ not ‘human beings.’  Our experiential sense of worth and validation gradually shifts from God’s unconditional love for us in Christ to our works and performance.”  Sadly, his analysis is true, not only for ministry but also for other areas, such as work and relationships.

Our insecurity does not only affect our ministry—trusting others— but also relationships—letting others be.  Our ego does not only affect our ministry—demanding recognition from others—but also relationships—putting our needs over and above those of others.  In the end our concept of God and His work is also skewed.  We limit it and make rules that have nothing to do with God’s will.  In the case of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the high priests in Jesus’ time, to make Him gone, they killed Him.  So, let’s heed the warning, “We must first clean the inside of the cup and dish” (Matthew 23:26).

Pastor Paul