Boaz and The Art of Personal Management (Ruth 2)

        Chapter One of the Book of Ruth saw the testimony of Naomi and her bitterness at the circumstances of her life.  God’s providence had been of no comfort to her.  When Boaz enters the picture at the time of the Barley harvest, the mood shifts.  Naomi is able to see more of the goodness of God.  She is able to find hope again in her circumstances.  What was it about the words and actions of Boaz that made the difference?

        If we wrote a book based on his actions, we might call it  “The Art of Personal Management.”  What would Boaz teach us?

1.       1.  Develop a culture of blessing with words.  The opening words of Boaz to his workers “The Lord bless you” and their equivalent response was more than formality.  It expresses their mutual respect and care for each other. 

2.       2.   Show interest and concern for those under your care.  When Boaz inquires after the stranger in his field, the foreman offers more detail because he knows Boaz will have listening ears.  Nabal, at the time of sheep-shearing, was never this approachable or this interested in the welfare of others.  Ruth and her plight have caught the interest of the foreman and he shares that information with Boaz because he knows that Boaz will do something.

3.       3.  Be generous in ways that honor the image of God in man.  Gleaning provides work and profit for the poor.  Boaz respects the need for work.  But, he tells his men to drop stalks of grain along the way on purpose.  Ruth’s work will now be exceptionally profitable.  Her hard work from morning until dusk will be rewarded with his generosity.

4.       4.  Assign roles and tasks to those in your employ that are meaningful and will help to get the work done in a timely manner.  Boaz must organize the harvest to get done in time for the wheat harvest.  He has young men for harvesting and bringing water for the workers.  He also has young women in the fields gathering grain.  He also has a foreman, managing the affairs of the harvest in the field.  Everyone works with skill toward one end.

5.       5.  Allow those under your care to be generous and honoring as well.  The young men can now be as generous as they choose to be toward Ruth.  We can imagine that some drop more and some drop less.  The workers are actively involved in the generosity of Boaz.

6.       6.  Touch the lives of others in such a way that when they leave your presence, they bless your name (and praise God).  The abundant fruit from gleaning and the countenance of Ruth are enough to change the bitterness of Naomi.  The actions of Boaz lift the chin of Naomi so that she can see the blessing of God as well.

7.       7.  For Boaz, His vocation and his faith were wed.  We are not meant to compartmentalize our faith.  All of our lives are lived before God’s face.  We give account for our worship.  We give account for our work lives.  God is to be glorified in every area of our lives.  In doing so, in both subtle and obvious ways, we mirror God’s glory.

 

The Legitimate Use of Power

             Two models for the use of power are given in scripture.  Jesus draws attention to them as he teaches the disciples about leadership.  One model is power for its own sake.  The other regards power as stewardship.  

            Power for its own sake.  Those who do not know the way of Christ use power to “lord it over” others (Matthew 20:25) and to exercise authority as an end in itself.  The acquisition of more and more power becomes the goal.  Status and honor are the principal goals.  The goal is not only to have power but to be seen as powerful.  Power is an end in itself.

            The Stewardship of Power.  Power ebbs and flows according to the desires of an omnipotent God.  All power is His, in the end.  Should we exercise any power or influence over others, it is a gift and a responsibility.  The more power we have, the more responsibility we have.  We are only stewards of His power.  We will give an account for the way we have used power.  “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required” (Luke 12:48).  Power is a means to Kingdom ends.

 Nabal and Power

            Nabal has power and influence in the nation of Israel at the time of David.  He is “great”- a man of considerable wealth and accompanying influence.  His wealth has brought him power and his power brings more wealth.  His will is submitted to because of his wealth alone.  Nabal’s wealth has given him position but not respect.  His character and his approach to power have not brought him honor.  People do as he tells them because he is wealthy, not because he is wise.

            Nabal pursues power for its own sake.  He loves to hear his own opinions aired and to watch people fall in line at his command.  His sights are set on gaining more power.  He believes he will look more powerful by putting David down.  He believes the lavish display of wealth “fit for a king” will cause others to envy and look with awe at what he has achieved.

            People who pursue power for its own sake leave a path of destruction behind them.  Power gives them the ability to spread their folly over a larger area.  Their folly will also be remembered for generations.  Power gives both wideness and depth to our foolishness.  Three thousand years later, we are still telling his story.  His name has become a byword.

 Power and Vocation

            Instead of amassing power for himself, Nabal could have blessed his community.  Your vocation is the way you recognize how you fit in the community around you.  He could have viewed with gratitude the multitude of ways in which his life was blessed by others.  His servants had poured their lives into his success.  Nabal builds, directs, and profits, but their work is essential as well.  He has received blessing from them and ought to, in turn, bless others.  He could have become God’s instrument to help meet the needs of others.  The energy of God’s grace would flow to him and through him to others.  It would be a way of loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself.  Vocation brings God into the realm of the ordinary.  All this blessing is lost when power is viewed as a goal and not a tool.

            When Nabal views his acquisition of power as an end in itself, he immediately enters into competition with everyone else.  In his mind, the more power another person has, the less power he has.  All power must be clamored for.  He could not see that everyone could prosper under shared authority.  His household can prosper only at the expense of all the others. 

 Sins of Vocation

            When power is an end in itself, several consequences develop.  Power becomes abusive.  It becomes a way of maintaining control both in the business and at home.  Any small incident will trigger an angry response because it is seen as a challenge to authority.  

            In business, employees learn not to approach Nabal with problems, obstacles, or wealth-generating ideas.  They keep their heads down and try to do their jobs without attracting too much attention.  The result is a loss of creativity and an unwillingness to take risks.  Many employees will quit as soon as they are able.  Others will stay at the risk of their own reputations.

            Businesses and ventures headed by Nabal will develop covert ways of solving problems without appealing to Nabal.  The servant comes to Abigail because she will listen, understand the situation with clarity, and make a plan to deal with the issue.  Nabal can be told later.

            Nabal’s use of power will attract enemies.  His surly approach would leave behind a whole train of embittered people and destroyed relationships.  In his blindness, he can stab you in the back and walk away feeling offended.  There will always be conflict with Nabal until he offends someone bigger and stronger than he is.

            Finally, Nabal’s self-absorption is demoralizing.  Workers need to know that what they do has value.  We are all built to work and to receive satisfaction from the work we do.  It is part of the way we are made.  In the garden God looks on with satisfaction as Adam goes about the work of naming the animals and planning for their care (cp. Genesis 2).  Any work done with good and noble purpose brings the worker a sense of satisfaction and contentment.  Nabal offers no higher purpose for the efforts of others than his own prosperity. 

 Learning the Lessons of Power

            How should power be used?  Are those who are given authority destined to abuse it?  An important lesson sits in I Samuel 25.  The author has taken great pains to show that Saul has pursued power for its own sake.  David is chased around Israel because Saul views him as a threat to his own power.  The author shows that David refrains from using his power against the Lord’s anointed.  Do you see how chapter 25 continues to follow this theme?

            Nabal is like Saul.  He uses power for his own sake.  Nabal even uses the same diminutive expression Saul uses of David:  “Son of Jesse.”  The author intends for us to make the comparison.   This chapter begins with the possibility that David will use power in the same way.  However, the mediation of Abigail averts the abuse.  David, according to the author, will act differently as king, because he has the wisdom to listen.  Later, Shimei (II Samuel 16:5-13) will curse David, but he will refrain from taking vengeance.  The influence of Abigail changes the direction of the Hebrew monarchy.

            Power must be viewed as stewardship.  It will ebb and flow over the course of David’s reign.  Foolish decisions will diminish his power, wise decisions will increase it.  In all of it, the reader is comforted that David has a different kind of character, a different approach to power.  Watch how the passage records David’s response:

·         David is approachable.  Nothing in the text gives us warrant to think that David should listen to the pleas of this wife of the mocker.  Yet, in the midst of anger and the desire for revenge, David will give a hearing to Abigail.

·         David listens.  He gives Abigail a full hearing.  She is allowed to present her full case without comment.  He does not cut her off.  His men see the character of a leader in his willingness to listen alone.

·         David is self-aware.  He exhibits the rare ability to listen to what she says and then to compare her message to what he knows of himself.  He can recognize both his strengths and his weaknesses, his virtues and his sins.  He finds Abigail’s mediation instructive.  Nabal has no such ability.

·         David can repent and change direction.  400 warriors have responded to David’s call for vengeance.  They are now witness to his repentance before a woman from Nabal’s house.  They see his heart for God and view it as a strength, not as a weakness.

·         David lives under the authority of God and blesses God when Abigail intervenes.  He sees in her confrontation the hand of God and rejoices at God’s restraining mercy.  It is God that David ultimately wishes to please.

These are the traits of a king who views his authority as a stewardship and not as an end.  These traits stand out as an obvious departure from the ways of Saul and Nabal.  A leader after God’s own heart will cultivate these qualities and use his power as a tool for good in his community.

The Blind Side of Nabal

 

The Blind Side of Nabal

             As you read the story of Nabal, you get the distinct impression that others view him differently from the way he views himself.  If he made a list of adjectives to describe himself, the list would be very different from the list those in his circle of influence would choose.  What causes this misalignment?

            In the 1950s, two psychologists created a model for mapping our personality awareness.  Subjects were shown a list of 58 adjectives and asked to pick the five or six that best described them.  The same list was given to their peers so they could also evaluate the subject.  The adjectives were then mapped on a grid.  The Johari Window, designed by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingraham, displayed both traits that overlapped and ones that differed in its four panels: 

·         The Open quadrant contained the adjectives that both the subjects and his peers identified as personality traits of the subject.  These characteristics were commonly known by both the subject and his peers.

·         The Hidden panel contained those adjectives that only the subject identified.  The peer group was unaware that the subject viewed himself in this way.

·         The Blind Spot panel contained adjectives that the peer group identified but  the subject did not.  These adjectives were a part of the personality of the subject, but he didn’t know it.

·         The Unknown quadrant listed all the unused adjectives.  Neither the subject nor his peers had chosen them.  The adjectives either did not apply or there was collective blindness about these traits. 

            Nabal is an interesting case because his blind spot is large.  Those around him keep secrets.  Those around him allow him to live in his own illusion while carrying on the business of the house in a covert kind of way.  Nabal has an aspect of his personality that he has not faced.  He remains ignorant of the least desirable aspects of his personality.  Perhaps his money and his pride shield him from knowing what everyone else knows.  Nabal is a fool.

 

What Nabal Can See

            Everyone knows that Nabal is a wealthy man.  His power and influence in the region earn him the Hebrew description, “great.”  He is a very successful businessman in that agrarian culture.  Even if he inherited the flocks from parents, they have prospered and grown under his care.  When the time for sheep-shearing comes, his genius is shown in the great collection of raw materials for fiber, fabric, and cloth.  The celebration that comes with every shearing is owed to his talent.  In wealth acquisition, he displays real skill.  The greatness of Nabal is in the open or arena quadrant of the Johari Window.  Everybody knows it. 

            Wealth also insulates Nabal from his shadow, the less desirable parts of his personality.  Friends, family, and business associates choose not to confront Nabal with those traits.  Do they fear an angry response?  Will they personally lose favor or wealth in that process?  Or, have they tried in countless ways and their attempts have fallen on deaf ears?  How many good and competent business partners have been alienated by him or chosen to walk away?   As a result, on the large stage that wealth provides, he unwittingly displays the foolishness that others so plainly see.

 

What Others Can See

            Nabal’s name is proverbial whether his parents gave it to him or not.  His life has become the epitome of the kind of person Wisdom begs sons not to become:  A Scorner.  Scorners are fools who ridicule things sacred and serious.  They believe they sound wise and powerful, but to others they sound ridiculous.  Their folly is manifest to all men, yet Nabal is self-deceived (Proverbs 14:8).  What can others see?

1.       Nabal is always right in his own eyes.  He trusts his own mind and is supremely self-confident  (See Proverbs 14:16; 28:26).  Self-confidence is good, but he is never willing to admit error.  No one chooses to confront him when he slanders David and scoffs at his request.  They will not attempt to rescue the situation by speaking to Nabal.  Instead, they will run to his wife.

2.       Nabal always speaks his mind.  He gives full vent to his spirit, he does not hold it back (see Proverbs 29:11).  He babbles on (Proverbs 10:8).  You sense he delights to air his own opinions when he speaks proverbially about servants and masters (see Proverbs 18:12).  Good men will be driven from his presence because they find no value in his words (Proverbs 14:7).

3.       Nabal is always in conflict.  He will always be quarreling (Proverbs 20:3) and his lips will walk into a fight (Proverbs 18:6-7).  The existence of a covert network around him to handle “situations” is proof that conflict is a habit with Nabal.

4.       Nabal will slander and injure others with his words.  He delights in scoffing (Proverbs 1:22) even when others are offended or injured by his words (Proverbs 9:7-8).  “Who is this David?”  He shows no respect or honor and he is not afraid to slander David, the future king (Proverbs 10:18). 

5.       Nabal has no regard for spiritual things (Proverbs 14:9).  He has no sense for what God is doing in the world through David, no respect for his anointing, and no compassion for David’s men.  His ridicule of the religious and the serious makes himself look ridiculous.

6.       Nabal will bear the judgment for his foolishness (Proverbs 9:12).  A scoffer’s babbling will come to ruin and his condemnation is ready (Proverbs 19:29).  His foolishness will end in disgrace (Proverbs 3:35).

 

Nabal’s Leadership

            Nabal’s obvious blind spot tells the reader a lot about his leadership.  He neither understands others nor himself.   In the blind spot are the obstacles to a successful organization.  Individual ignorance or delusion creates an atmosphere of fear.  The blind spot is neither an effective nor productive space.  Others in the organization will deliberately withhold issues from the leader.  Feedback is stifled and fear is increased.  Conflict increases, relationships die, and stability, continuity, and harmony are sacrificed on the altar of Nabal’s pride.

            Team builders suggest that through self-discovery or through positive, open, and free discussions the blind spot can be reduced.  The leader will be responsible for cultivating a culture of helpful, constructive communication throughout his organization.  It is a fundamental aspect of effective leadership.  Does anyone doubt that Nabal has never solicited feedback?

            Nabal’s personality, exhibited in I Samuel 25, allows no mutual understanding in his family or his organization.  The only gifts and abilities on display are Nabal’s own.  Working with Nabal is demoralizing:  The gifts and abilities of his coworkers go essentially unused.  New ideas and feedback to Nabal’s ideas are left unspoken.  Nabal’s ideas are not made stronger as a result of the interaction.  The ideas of his servants go unspoken and the household does not profit. 

            Nabal’s business acumen keeps him afloat but the workers under him will chafe at his leadership.  His household rises and falls on his decisions alone.  Workers have no autonomy and will need to be assisted at every level in order to conform their work to Nabal’s desires.  All decisions have to come through Nabal.  Team unity cannot happen and servants look out for their own best interests.  Goals are achieved but relationships flounder.  All workers will be unsatisfied in their work and move to another position when they can. 

 

Can Nabal Learn?

            Everything rises or falls on leadership.  The atmosphere in an organization is changed from the top.  He will set the tone by listening, fostering relationships, delegating, and displaying emotional intelligence in the workplace.  Does this sound like Nabal?

            As long as Nabal is breathing, there is hope.   Divine intervention is not nearly as rare as one might suppose:  “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1).   Prayer can turn a scorner into something new.  “Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor” (Proverbs 3:34).  The remedy is humility.

            Proverbs is ambiguous about the effectiveness of confronting a fool about his folly.  If you answer a fool, you run the risk of becoming like him (cp. Proverbs 26:4).  If you do not answer him, he remains wise in his own eyes, yet a fool in everyone else’s (cp. Proverbs 26:5).  If you approach him, be humble yourself and ready with a listening ear. There is a promise for you:  “Those who rebuke the wicked will have delight and receive blessing” (Proverbs 24:25).

             The example of Esther and her approach to Xerxes may be instructive.  The situation was desperate and she had to have his ear to save the lives of her people.  She approached the king with overwhelming grace and manners.  She piqued his attention with her requests and she was careful to lay out exactly what was needed when the time came to speak.  Her approach worked, but then again, Xerxes was no fool.

            Abigail’s approach to David is another example.  She approached him with an attitude of humility.  She identified with his situation and knew how to appeal to his better nature.  David listened to her wisdom.  He praised God for her intervention.  But David is no fool either.

            Our narrative doesn’t end well for Nabal.  As a result, we are not told what works and what doesn’t.  Living with the decisions of a Nabal is a difficult thing.  May God give us grace in our dealings with him.

Caleb: A Good and Broad Land

               God has been good to me.  There have been many times in my life when he has brought me to a land where I could say with the psalmist, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places” (cp. Psalm 16:5-6)   I have friends scattered throughout the world, good friends, who have stamped my soul with their care for me.  Though now they may have forgotten my name, I bask in the light of their kindness and love for me.  If any of them had need, I would rise with whatever zeal and resources I could muster to come to their aid.

                There have also been times when I have been discontented.  It was only later that I recognized the good land to which I had been led.  I had different expectations, and in the midst of what God had planned for me, I was disappointed.  God was to be my portion and my cup, and I missed it.

                I am no different than the Jews of Moses’ day.  The pattern of God’s blessing for me follows the same steps as the Exodus:

                1.  God sees our slavery.  In Exodus 3, God tells Moses, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt.  God is not oblivious to our sufferings.  He will come to our aid.  “The cry of the people of Israel has come to me.”  We are not outcasts in a random, barren world.  The love of God has heard our cries, understood our pain and risen to help us.

                2.  God announces His intent to provide full deliverance:  “I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites… a land flowing with milk and honey.”  God’s promise had two sides.  He would bring them out of slavery and into blessing, out of pain and into rest.  It was a good land.

                3.  God’s promise comes with an invitation to be accepted by faith.  Listen to the richness of God’s plan:

“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and figs trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.  And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land He has given you” (Deuteronomy 8:7ff).

The goal of His plan is always His glory and our good.  We will be satisfied and He will be glorified.  And our fellowship with Him will be sweet.

                To a man in slavery, that kind of promise and that kind of God can capture your imagination.  It can kindle a zealous heart for following Him.  “A land flowing with milk and honey” described a fertile and abundant harvest, a rich blessing in the agricultural world of the Exodus.  A good and stalwart man like Caleb will clutch the refrain tightly to his breast, not because it presents a change in his circumstances, but because it represents by faith a new and intimate relationship with a powerful, caring God.

                Like the children of Israel, God knows our suffering and has heard our cries.  He has announced His intent to deliver us from our sin, and to bring us into a good and broad land.  Like Caleb, I will arise and follow- only God has what I need.

Power and Faithfulness

     In seminary, I rented a room from a remarkable widow.  Bess Gresham was 87 and still president of the Poetry Society of Virginia.  She was preparing to turn over her responsibilities to others.  She told me, "If the organization you serve doesn't continue to grow after you leave, you didn't do your job."  She saw her service as a kind of stewardship.  She would serve in such a way as to prepare others to continue her success.  That is the proper stewardship of power.
     Let us serve and invest our power so that the cause of our Lord is furthered.  If the next generation serves Him better, may it be because we helped to prepare them.  And when we lay our power down, may we continue to be awed by the grace of a God who would use us to display His glory.

The Stewardship of Power

      If leaders must given an account, then we are stewards.  We are responsible to a higher authority for the way we use power.  In an important sense, power in like money.  God owns everything because He created it.  When we give to God, we give what is already His (Psalm 50:9-12).  We do not own His resources, but invest them for His glory and the benefit of others.  We want to hear the commendation, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:23).  Perhaps if we treated power the way we are taught to treat our money, we might be protected from its temptations.
     Concerning money, Paul said he had learned to be content in both plenty and want (Philippians 4:12).  It was the love of money that was the root of all evil (I Timothy 6:10).  Paul sought his satisfaction and contentment in his personal walk with God and money was only a tool to honor Christ.
     Power is also a tool.  When we have it, we must use it for the glory of God.  When we don't have it, we can still be content.  What is truly important to us is Christ.  When money and power become ends in themselves, the trouble begins.  Let me seek first the Kingdom of God and employ any resources of power or wealth to that end.

All Power is God's Power

     Power, like money, demands a kind of stewardship from the one who holds it.  In the end, all power is God's power.  He created all things and holds them together by His omnipotence.  Thrones, powers, rulers, and authorities were all created by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16-17).  Absolute power laughs at the stratagems of kings (Psalm 2) to overthrow His authority.  Omnipotence will one day cause every knee to bow before Christ, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth (Philippians 2:11).
     If all power is God's power, then all authority rests with Him.  If I exercise authority in ministry, my power exists by His permission.  The authorities that exist have been established by Him.  Even Satan reports to God.  He is leashed, asking permission to minister destruction (Job 1).  Satan's cosmic rebellion serves the ends of a righteous God, who will one day turn everything to good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
     Our power, then, is delegated.  God sets the boundaries for the exercise of our authority.  Governments are given authority to administer justice and to punish evildoers (Romans 13:1-5).  If they require us to break a law of God, they abrogate their authority and we must obey God rather than man (Acts 4:19).  Church leaders are given authority so that they might speak the Word of God (Hebrews 13:7,17), but they must render an account to Him.  If there are credible witnesses when they sin, they are to be rebuked publicly so that others may take warning (I Timothy 5:19-20).  We are responsible for the way we use the delegated power of God, stewards of His power for good.

The Ebb and Flow of Power

     David knew the ups and downs of leadership.  One day, God promised him the kingship.  Another day, Ziklag was burned, his family kidnapped, and his 'mighty men' threatened to kill him.  Imagine also the struggles of Jesus, to whom all power had been given, choosing not to use it for His own deliverance.
     Throughout a person's life, there is a natural ebb and flow to power.  As children, we are powerless to provide for our basic necessities.  As adults, we learn to stand on our own.  When we form a family, God gives us power over our children so that we may produce a godly seed (Malachi 2:15).
     Our power in the workplace rises or falls over the course of our lives.  Good decisions increase our power.  Bad decisions weaken it.  Sometimes the decisions of others affect our power.  And at the end, parents, CEOs, presidents, and kings all lay their power down.
     My soul has followed this ebb and flow of influence.  I have known the elation of turning around the financial fortunes of a mission school and to have an accrediting team bless our efforts to reach Amerasian children with a Christian education.  Sometimes, there is a wonderful synergy of energies toward a common goal.  Everyone gives input, everyone shares in the excitement of accomplishment.
     I have also worked where the was an unusual stubbornness, competing goals, and an independent spirit that compromised spiritual accomplishment.  I have known the depression that comes from trying to be creative, yet feeling alone in ministry.  In conflict, I have played mediator to warring factions and I have had people vote to take my power away.  How can we protect ourselves from these inevitable struggles with power?

May the Tribe of Micaiah Increase!

The experts gathered together to predict victory. The authors and the gurus, the church growth experts and ones versed in spiritual formation sent word to the prophet. "This is the way the spiritual wind is blowing. Join with us and we will celebrate the vast numerical victory that will be ours."
The church growth expert said, "The battle is sure. Look at the hordes who will flock to us. Victory is sure."
The Spiritual Formation expert said, "Self-esteem will lead the way. We can be confident when we are centered in our own understanding."
The Guru said, "We are predicting success. Let your word agree with ours."
But Micaiah said, "As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me... I saw all Israel scattered, like sheep without a shepherd..."

The Deception of Relevance

The church has made a grave mistake in ministry design. The cries for relevance over the last decade or two have led us to the edge of an abyss. If we peer over the edge, our knees may get weak.
*One church hired a pornography star to come and share about sex because of her wide experience.
*Another church made it popular to ask so many questions of scripture that they began to question scripture without settling on any of its answers
*Another church made selfishness its central concern so that Baby Boomers could feel relevant
*A final example was a church that made self-esteem its core value and redefined sin to be a lack of sufficient self-esteem.
All this was done at the altar of relevance. Here's my problems with the idea of relevance:
1. We make sinners and the weakest saints among us the arbiters of relevance. Whatever their felt need is at the time is where we park our ministry efforts and resources.
2. Relevance reflects a desire for a desire for a neat prescription for a felt need that takes away pain without touching the disease.
3. The heart, which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, likes its answers in neat little tablets. The heart directs the Word and Spirit of God into only those areas of pain and forbids wider scope to the agents of real transformation.
4. Nothing is more relevant, ultimately and finally, than the Gospel. On Christ and His ministry among us hang all our hope and joy. To think something else is more relevant than forgiveness of sins and right standing with God is a damnable blindness.
The real question is not relevance but sufficiency. Are the things we teach and do in ministry sufficient for bringing a sinner to the cross and a saint safely home? Next time we meet with our ministry design team, let's ask the right question.