17 November, 2011

God is NOT Double Minded

I don't even know where to begin with this one, other that to say that I get weary of hearing people blame God for their instability. Let's be clear, James tells us that a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. It is immaturity and a lack of solid foundation in a person's life that causes them to vary from week to week, even day to day with where they are and what they are to going to do. There is no focus, because the focus is on self, rather than on God and His Kingdom. When a person proclaims that they've heard from God and they are going after what God has laid upon their heart with reckless abandon... only to a few weeks later they are off that "word from God" to a new one, and pursuing something different, then I know that this person has not heard from God. And this happens with so many people with such regularity, that one would be forced to wonder if God has a clue what He is doing? 
God is not double minded, nor does he waver. When God says, "This is the direction"  then He means, "this is the direction."  When God says "sit still" then He means "sit still."  When God says "occupy" he means to occupy.  I think part of the problem is, many have no idea what "occupy" means. We've been witness to the whole "Occupy" protests in this nation for weeks on end now, and these protests actually give a good insight to some of the problems we see in the church. The protesters have labeled themselves as the "Occupy" movement.... but do not understand the depth of the meaning of "Occupy." 
To occupy means so much more than to sit and take up space, or to act with no accountability while waiting.  Our job is called our occupation. It is what we do. In essence, it is who we are. When Jesus told us to occupy until he comes... he did not mean for us to sit idly by, blowing in the wind... it meant we are to carry on the Father's business!  Let's be honest... few are doing this!  And that, my friends, is the problem.  
And yet another aspect of what leads to the instability and wavering is that so many want to reach the top rung of the ladder without working their way up. Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of these, "you have to pay your dues" type people. God can and will elevate who he desires to. But the one He is going to elevate is the one whom has been faithful in the things put in their trust! But so many miss this, and they want to become a leader, before they have learned to follow!  I believe the Word to be true in that we reap what we sow. If we sow instability, we will reap instability.


Over the years I have had literally dozens of people blow into the church, full of ideas and ready to lead... but they never want to follow, and when you don't place them immediately into places of leadership, they blow over to the next pasture. Guys do this when they pastor as well, jumping from church to church and wondering why they are not seeing results. They fail to understand that leadership is so much more about what you do day in and day out than what you say when you hold the microphone. People hear you... but more importantly, they watch you. What you say is completely negated if you do not walk out what you say with your mouth. They lose all confidence in the one who is big on talk but weak on follow through. Sadly, rather than this type person seeing that they are the problem, they will sit around and point fingers and accuse others of not being what they ought to be. The problem is that people will not follow someone until they know they are not going to quit on them. Until they see persistence and dedication in a person, they will not follow.  Even John the Baptist wanted to know of Jesus, if he was the one or should they look for another. As a result, this type "leader" will bounce from place to place, idea to idea, and they will never be successful in any sense, nor find any peace within, until they deal with self, and learn the Biblical context of submission and following. One can never follow as long as they are looking at the next field.

 Again... I am tired of hearing God blamed for "changing his mind."  I'm tired of hearing God's people blamed for not wanting to follow someone who is unstable. It is not God who is wavering or double minded. That narrows the field quite a bit, doesn't it?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Darrell, I don't think you can say that so matter of factly. If my people don't want to work with me then I have to move on. Right?

Mike

Darrell said...

That's being a bit generic and more or less tap dancing around the issue dude. You've been in 3 churches now in less than 3 years and ready to leave again. It's time to take a good look in the mirror instead of pointing the finger at the church people and your Overseers. You need to go where God is sending you and be ready to lay a foundation build on and then fight for it. You cannot keep jumping from ship to ship. Sooner or later you are going to jump and there will be no ship to land on!

You know I care, but I'm not gonna pull punches with you. Time to step back and re-evaluate things. You cannot be ready to bolt every time a problem comes your way or things get rough.

Darrell said...

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Maybe the best route is to be an associate or work under someone in some capacity for a season.

Anonymous said...

You are sounding too much like the Bishop. You don't know what it is like until you've been where I am so you cant say. We are friends, but you don't have a clue.

Darrell said...

Let me say this and I'm done. First, I know that God does not change plans and directions every few weeks. He laid out his plan from before the foundation of the earth, and it is still the same.
Second, I wish you'd not responded on this because this was pretty generic and you were left out of it. In fact, I was told just a bit ago that someone actually thought it was about someone else. (Glad to clear that one up!) But you have opened a can of worms now that should not have been opened.

I'm done with this now.

Jim Martin said...

I have found that when a pastor leaves a church (myself included) his biggest problem member will follow him. The church member who will give you the most fits and demonstrates the highest degree of instablity is the one whose face you shave each morning.
Go to the field to minister and pack your worldly belongings in your coffin. Plan to die there.

Your friend,
RR

Darrell said...

Good point Jim.