Have you ever been to a “puff-out-the-chest” convention?
Let’s see: I’ve been to pastor’s conferences. I’ve been to church growth conferences. I’ve been to youth pastor’s conferences. I’ve been to music concerts. Chances are good then, except for possibly the latter, you too have been to a puff-out-the-chest conference. By now I suspect you know what one is. It’s a group of pastor/youth leaders getting together and becoming blowhards. You know: “We’ve had x amount of additions this past year.” Not to be outdone another blowhard says, “We’ve had x amount of baptisms the past 6 months.” “Our attendance has doubled in the past year.” Blah. Blah. Blah. On and on it goes; where it stops nobody knows. I was joking with the staff the other day. On the Day of Pentecost it says 3000 were added to the church that day. A few verses later it talks about a great multitude. “The 3000,” I said, “is the actual count. The great multitude is the preacher count.” 🙂
Sadly, many pastor/church leaders are blowhards. Been there done that. We get into a puff-out-the-chest game of one-upmanship. We act like “my dad can beat up your dad” kind of kids.
Strange. I distinctly remember something being written about our leader who came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. That very same leader said, “Unless you become like little children you cannot enter the kingdom of God.” I wonder how long it will take us to realize riding on a donkey is better than a Roman steed and becoming like a child is better than an overblown adult?
Instead of puffing out the chest, we ought to be sucking air wilting in the presence of the King of kings, the real King, the One who showed us it was all about being a servant, not winning a game of “i can top you.” Blowhards need to come in contact with a pin cushion.
What a down-to-earth, honest confession here, Bill. We all are guilty of having too much pride in what we do/have done at times. I’m so thankful that Jesus can be that pin cushion that pokes all the hot air out of us and replaces it with humility and the heart of a servant.
Blessings!
Thanks Martha. Sadly, inflated egos are all too familiar for all of us. And yes, we need a fresh breath of humility
Instead of bragging about how many people the church has baptized, it should be said like this: look how many people God saved and gave us the privilege to baptize them, and then we get to be Shepards to them as they begin their journey of following Christ. To often we take all the credit when it is not ours to take. I think about Jesus washing his disciples feet, He constantly showed us how to serve. If service could be done in such humbling way by Our Lord and Savior, we need to take notice of what true service looks like and follow our Lord’s lead.
I think you said it right when you said we tend to take too much credit when it is not ours to take. Speaking as a pastor, I have been there done that and it is wrong.