What’s In Your Tank?

What’s in your tank?

I’ve been in full time ministry for about 12 years now. I’ve made a lot of impact for the Kingdom, but I’ve also made many mistakes along the way.

Mistakes are unavoidable, but I believe that what shows excellence in a leader is that we consistently check ourselves on this one thing I’m writing to you about today.

Anyone who knows me for longer than 10 minutes knows I love a good metaphor. I mean what’s a prophet without metaphors and parables, anyways? We’re like the people with the prophetic parables, right?

Everyone has a ministry for their life, not just preachers, pastors, and missionaries. That’s why the job of the 5-fold offices is to “equip the saints for the working of the ministry” (Eph 4:12)…. You have a calling, and whether you’re in “full time ministry” or not, your calling IS your ministry. The job of the prophet/teacher/evangelist/apostle/pastor is to equip the BODY of Christ for ministry.

Think of your ministry like a car. Your ministry is a vehicle for God’s love. You are transporting God’s love to the world in one way or another. But the problem comes in that some of us lose track of that along the way, and we forget the WHY. Your why is your driving factor behind what you do. Your WHY is the GAS IN YOUR TANK.

YOUR WHY IS WHAT FUELS YOU.

Many things can go in our tank, and I’ve probably been guilty of using them all at some point in my ministry.

Here are some common “fuels” that people are driven by in ministry:

approval
people pleasing
fame
striving to earn God’s love
legalism
fear of God’s judgement
fear of hell
guilt
duty

I could go on and on with this list, but these are just to name a few.

The problem is, there’s only one acceptable fuel for your vehicle that is your life’s ministry. There is only one healthy thing to be driven by, and that’s God’s love.

The love of God is the only driving factor that will keep you from damaging others with your car by running people over just to get where you want to go. When we become motivated by all these other things, we suddenly forget our true WHY (the love of God), and we are willing to do anything just to get to the “destination” we have in mind. No matter how beautiful the destination, it doesn’t matter when we show up with the blood of our victims (or “followers”) sprayed across the grill of our car.

And that’s exactly what happens metaphorically when we begin driving our ministries like fools trying to impress others, and gain their applause. The purpose of your ministry is to love God and love others. It really is that simple.

YOUR MINISTRY SHOULD BE A VEHICLE FOR GOD’S LOVE.

To do ministry to impress people is a clanging symbol.
To do ministry to try to avoid hell (not possible anyways) is a clanging symbol.
To do ministry for fame and notoriety is a clanging symbol and a disgrace to our Father.

We are called to love people, and love God. When we start doing ministry out of obligation we aren’t being fueled by the right thing.

Honestly I have taken extended sabbaticals from ministry until I could get my heart right to be fueled by the right thing.

IT IS FLAT OUT DANGEROUS TO BE FUELED IN MINISTRY BY ANYTHING OTHER THAN LOVE.

When we aren’t fueled by love to do ministry, we’re better off leaving the car parked in the garage for a while until we can get fueled up, get our hearts in the right space, and receive God’s love for ourselves. We can’t serve others just because we’re supposed to. We’re called to serve others because we are fueled by the love of God. When we do that, we actually fall in love with the people God has called us to serve.

1 Corinthians 13:1-6  If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

      Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Everyone knows what happens if you put diesel in a regular vehicle and try to crank it. IT’S VERY BAD.

Let’s just say that I know first hand that it is similarly VERY BAD when we put something other than love in our cars, and try to fulfill our calling. The same exact thing happens…. It will destroy your ministry, just like it would destroy your car, but it also wounds and hurts people along the way. I remember in my early years of ministry, how legalistic I was and how mean I was to the teens. I’m so embarrassed when I think back to those days, and I can only pray that I’ve helped to undo the damage I may have caused. The problem was that my heart wasn’t absolutely in love with my teens that I ministered to daily.

You see, we don’t get to define what love is. We say things like “well I said the truth in LOVE…. and the truth hurts!” sometimes as an excuse for being a jerk…. But we don’t get to define what love is. God already did that for us here in 1 Corinthians 13. If it’s not patient, it’s not love. If it’s jealous, braggy, arrogant, self-gratifying and self-seeking…. it’s not love.

Love doesn’t (shouldn’t) hurt people. It restores.

Be blissed 
Amber Picota

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