I remember the time we had eight people on our staff. They all loved God. You know how it is. Every one of them loved God and wanted to serve Him. But one by one, you could see where their commitment was: it was really in exalting themselves.
Five out of the eight were out to exalt themselves and get their own ministries going.
You've got to watch that motive carefully. Some of the people who were working for us got the idea that God had called them to do what we were doing, only better than we were doing it. There is always someone who thinks they can do what you're doing better than you can.
What we've had to do is to set up guidelines, and it's important for you to understand this. When you get going in your ministry, you'll have people come up to you and say what people have said to us, "God wants me to come and do this for you."
You have to know what God has told you, and that vision has to be burning in your hearts as well as theirs if there is going to be harmony between you.
You're Accountable For Your Calling
If God has called you, and you've been diligent to prepare for that calling, He's also the One who is going to call you to account for that gift and calling. So you'd better be a wise and zealous steward over your ministry.
You should read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 and get serious about what God has put in your heart as an investment for His kingdom. He'll ask you about it, so you'd better be ready to account for what you've done with it.
The key to how much your talent will increase lies in your commitment.
One big learning experience in our ministry came when a man came to work for us in the ministry of helps. It did not work out well. The reason it didn't work is that when we commit responsibility to someone, we commit it, and if that person doesn't do his job, it doesn't get done.
If someone is supposed to carry my guitar and put it on my music stand, when I get ready to minister in song, I'll just go up there and look at the guitar stand. Now, if the guitar is supposed to be there and it isn't, I won't go to the back of the church and pick it up, I'll just stand there and wait.
Why? Because I've given that responsibility to someone else. Sure, you can do another man's job, but he won't learn about responsibility if you do.
Well, this person just didn't get things done, and yet he really thought that he was doing things better than everybody else. About a month before he was going to leave, God said to me, "He's going to be leaving, so prepare yourself for this hole." So we started preparing someone else to do what he was doing.
One day we came into the office, and I said, "When are you leaving?"
He was surprised, and said, "Well...well...I guess next week will be my last week."
I said, "I see. Did you plan on giving any notice?" You see, he had been in the ministry of helps, but he hadn't learned much about that yet.
He said, "Well, God has given me a bigger vision." He then went on to explain his vision. It was the same vision we had, but there was a preparation needed to fulfill it.
Run With Your Vision
God will show you a vision, and it's like a big football game. You might as well go eat your victory dinner now, because you're going to win; but you're still going to have to play the game. Somebody is going to have to carry the ball from one end of the field to the other. That's the rule of the game.
It doesn't really matter if you're the best team, you still have to follow the rules, and that's the way it goes. If you don't run with the vision God gave you - from the beginning to the end - you won't fulfill it; someone else will. You'll see it and want to be a part of it - and you might even know exactly what is going to happen - but you'll never fulfill the vision if you're not willing to run the whole game according to the rules.
Most young ministers called into the music ministry aren't willing to be patient, diligent, and disciplined until God tells them to step out.
You really have to get clear about God. He's a success in everything He does. Everything He does will succeed because He's disciplined and moves step by step.
We need to see that there has to be a time of apprenticeship in the ministry just like there is in a trade in the world. When you have learned the tools of the Word and the Spirit, as well as the skills of your music, then you'll be ready.
There has to be the parallel development of the spiritual and musical ability of the person called to minister.
If your musical skill overbalances your skill in yielding to the Word and the Holy Spirit, you'll have minor victories, and yet, Jesus will be praised, but you won't do what God wants you to do. If the Word isn't the sword in your mouth, then you won't destroy the works of the devil like God wants you to. And you had better be ready, because you're going to have trouble.
After you realize that you're called, you'll need to spend time learning how to communicate the Gospel effectively; to learn how to have patience and a pure heart while you're learning. There is a time when you're going to have to grow and there's a time when things just have to come together for you.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers