Avoiding Ministry Landmines: When You Stop Listening

Another ministry landmine can be when you stop listening.  I see this as a common thread in leaders who really aren’t as good as they think about.  No one wants to hear something negative about themselves.  And we can all be a little selfish sometimes with a “I’m going to do what I want to do” attitude.  It is important that we listen to the sources in our life that God put in place to help us grow.  Here are a few places in your life you should always be listening to:

• Your Spouse: Yes everyone…I am telling you to listen to your spouse.  He/she have the pulse of your home in mind when they offer you advice or feedback.  They are the most invested in you out of anyone.  They are there to help you maintain balance to your life, a life out of balance between home, work, and ministry will render you useless.  SO LISTEN UP!
• Your Pastor/Leader: God has placed a Pastor in your life to guide you and direct you.  If you don’t listen to him it will stifle the growth and blessings God has set aside for you.  Now you should never do anything someone tells you to do that is unscriptural…but usually when you don’t want to listen to your Pastor it isn’t a scripture issue but a style issue.  When your Pastor wants you to do something a certain way and you want to whine that it’s not your way…suck it up!  He is the Pastor.  It is your job as a leader/associate to help make your Pastors dreams come true.  Remember you are not at his church doing your thing…you are doing his thing.  On the flip side, it is of no benefit to your Pastor if you aren’t growing.  So he will want to speak things into your life and help you.  Keep your ears and mind open to what he has to say to you.  Treat it with utmost importance.  Bring a notepad to meetings and lunch dates, take notes on what he has to say so you won’t forget.
• Your Peers: Now I know opinions are like belly buttons…EVERYONE has one!  But you still need to pick a few trusted peers that can speak into your life.  I would recommend these peers are more advanced than you in areas that you need to grow.  That way they can help mentor you to where you need to go.  In my opinion a peer isn’t necessarily someone exactly your age, it could be someone that is in the same phase of life that you are.
• Your Body: I have recently learned that your body will tell you how you are doing in life and ministry as well.  Sometimes we ignore this and it ends up in tragedy.  Your body will tell you when you need rest, when you need to eat, when you need more water, when you need exercise etc ect.  Don’t ignore what your body is telling you.  Don’t ignore what your body is showing you.  If you hurt yourself, end up in the hospital or worse it doesn’t help anyone.

So take a deep look at these places in your life to listen to.  Examine them, if there is a common thread in these areas that isn’t adding up, it’s probably not who you are listening to.  It’s probably you!  So open up those ears and listen up!

-JM