I don’t always like ministry.
I don’t like constantly being surrounded by teammates.
I miss my favorite coffee shops, dogs, snow, and all the little comforts of Appleton, Wisconsin.
There’s a lot of “I”s in those statements, because the truth is that I am a selfish person. When making decisions or acting, I usually think about what is going to make me comfortable and happy. I let these “I” statements control too much of my Race and my life.
But, God call us up into something better. He says,
Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well (Philippians 2:3-4).
Hearing this is hard because it goes against everything I naturally want to do, but God knows that going through the radical abandonment of self leads us closer to Him and to each other. Take a moment to imagine a world where people actually took this verse seriously.
It’s beautiful, isn’t it?
This abandonment idea is hard. It’s even embarrassing to share it with the world in this blog.
But, I also sense excitement to eventually get to a place where the earlier statements transform into:
It’s wonderful to see how this ministry blesses this city.
It’s a blessing to have a team that desires closeness and serving one another.
There is so much God is going to do in the cities, mountains, and villages of these countries through this Race.
