Sunday Devotions Holy Heritage

Lectionary Verse: Matthew 21:38 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.'”

It’s amazing what greed does to some people. Several times, in my twenty plus years of ministry, I have watched greed destroy families and friends, especially when it comes to dividing up property and possessions after the death of a loved one. It sickens my heart each time I see it occur and no matter how brazen or immoral the takers are, their greed supersedes their need to be fair and to share.

It happens on a faith level, too. Some churches are ditching their foundational beliefs in order to become more influential and powerful. They’re changing their names, denominations, and traditions for trendier types. They’re turning their venues into stadiums and cinemas, instead of houses of prayer. Each week, they lose something else in order to gain something new.

They’re driven by a power to be powerful and a need to be needed. They’re feeding the monster that they have created and some of them are beginning to splinter, divide, and breakdown. Perhaps the age of the mega-church, driven by personality and celebrity, is beginning to grind to a halt. Their towers of Babel have been built too high and people are returning to the smaller places, the safer sanctuaries, the more traditional churches.

When we kill Christ in an effort to be bigger and better, we kill our churches. The battle has always been between Christ and our culture. No matter what generation we are in, our lives are meant to be His. Anything else is unimportant. Anything else will just crumble and decay. Mega churches are nothing new – Christians built them in Europe 800 years ago and called them cathedrals. Most of them are in ruins or have very small active congregations in them now – the price of power and prestige, at the cost of people and faith.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You for growing some of our smaller churches in recent years. We pray that each growth of a person has meant a closer journey with You. Help us to build the strengths of fellowship with one another through Your Truth, Way, and Life. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Stushie is the writer of the daily devotional "Heaven's Highway" and the Christian Podcast "Stushie's Stuff."

Weekend Screensaver: Psalm 20

Continuing my Book of Psalms art project



This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible: Psalm 20 v 4 - May God give you the desire of your heart and make all of your plans succeed."

Sunday Devotions: Ambitions

Sometimes our ambitions to succeed can become idolatrous monsters to feed.

I have never really been comfortable around ambitious pastors. I’m of the old school that believes if you want a bigger church to lead, then grow the one that you’re leading right now. I’ve been in ministry for 22 years and in that time I’ve only led two charges. The average time that a pastor spends with one church is about four to five years, so by this time I should be leading my fifth or sixth congregation…if I was truly ambitious.

Podcast version here

It’s not that I don’t have ambitions and dreams for the congregation that I lead, or that I have jettisoned all my hopes and goals for the future. I just think that stability and dependability in pastoral leadership are more important than paper credentials and scholarly works. Those pastors who want to reach the top of the ladder are driven by a worldly view of success. For me, success is listening to God and trying to do what He wants for His Church and its people.

Matthew 20:22 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?""We can," they answered.

When the mother of James and John approaches Jesus about having her two sons sit beside Him in His glorious Kingdom, she is being ambitious on their behalf. Like any mother, she wants the best for her children, so she asks Jesus to grant her sons this ambitious request. James and John don’t ask this of Him directly, probably because they understand that Jesus isn’t big on power struggles within His chosen band of disciples. Sheepishly, they get their mother to petition Christ on their behalf. If they were truly ambitious, they would have personally asked Jesus to grant the request.

I like how Jesus answers them. He lets them all understand that He is also working under a Higher Power and that such a request is not His to give. He makes them aware that in order to be worthy of such a high honor, they would have to be willing to sacrifice themselves for the Kingdom. They answer this positively, in the hope that Christ will give them these positions of power. Jesus accepts their willingness, which has more to do with ambition and greed rather than service and loyalty. They will be required to sacrifice themselves for the cause, but it’s still up to God to allot the appointed thrones on the right and left of Christ.

Sometimes we allow ourselves to be overcome by our ambitions and in our zeal to fulfill our dreams, we lose a precious part of ourselves. James would be martyred for the cause and John would be exiled for many years. They both would pay a heavy price for their ambitions. If we also become obsessed with greatness and glory, then we can lose our humility and honesty, our faith and fidelity. There’s nothing wrong with wanting things to be better in our lives, but when we sacrifice our families and friends, our church and our charity, then we have taken the wrong path and have turned our ambition into an idolatrous monster that feeds upon our greed.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, keep us from grandiose schemes and ambitious dreams that would ruin the precious things in our lives. Help us to maintain a sense of balance, so that our desire to succeed does not become an idol of our greed. Allow us to seek to please You with our faith by placing our goals and dreams into Your hands. May we also use our successes to resource the eternally glorious work of Your Kingdom. In Your Holy Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.

Stushie writes the daily blog post "Heaven's Highway."