Three months already that have come and gone. Wow.
It seems like only yesterday I was in Africa, losing my body weight in sweat every day, and now I am on another bus, headed towards Lithuania. This has all been so surreal, it’s almost been like a dream.
When you feel like your dreaming it is easy to be self centered and make mistakes.
This is my public confession that I have not lived up to the potential that the Lord has given me, that for the past three months I have been unconsciously selfish and not very self aware. The Lord has given me an opportunity to do some amazing things this year, and I have not been fully invested in the blessings He has given me. I have realized that I have not been a good steward, and it breaks my heart to think that I have not loved my team the way they deserve to be loved and that I have not cherished what God has placed into my hands. It’s like I have forgotten the things I used to do, who I used to be.
I just finished watching the movie “ Hook”. “Hook” is Steven Spielberg’s adaptation and continuance of the story of Peter Pan. I am sure many of you remember the classic Disney movie Peter Pan, where Peter is a young adventurer who lives in Neverland. He fights pirates, flies and never wants to grow up. “Hook” takes place in the future, where Peter has fallen in love and gone back to the real world. In the real world, he grew up. As he grew up, he forgot who he was. He forgot the things he used to do and who he used to be. He forgot all of the things that made him Peter. One day, After Peter has had children, Captain Hook leaves Neverland and comes to the real world and kidnaps Peters children in order to lure him back to Neverland. It works. Peter goes back, but he cannot remember his past. He cannot remember how to fly, how to fight and how to save his kids. He has forgotten the most important things about who he fundamentally is, and once he finally remembers them, he flies off to save the day.
I am in no way suggesting that I can save the day, in fact, without God I am not really capable of a whole lot. I did not expect this movie to speak to me the way it did though. You see, I have forgotten the young man who showed up at Milestone three years ago and just wanted to serve. The young man who didn’t care what, or how he did it, he just wanted in some way to contribute to the Kingdom and vision that God was making a reality through his life and the local church. I have gotten so used to the status of being a “leader” that I forgot that the only reason I got there was because I started with nothing, and therefore, I was willing to do anything. I have forgotten the fundamental truth of leadership. Leadership, is service.
Revelation 2: vs 5 says this. “ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” I choose to go back to the way I used to be, to simply serving. I choose to forget the lies that status can give you. I choose to focus on relationships and loving those around me. Jesus came not to be served, but too serve. Why did I forget that, for me, it shouldn’t be any different?
