Here’s the email I wrote our elders and deacons today, 7/31/13:
In chapter 11 of Dangerous Calling, “Between the Already and the Not Yet,” Paul Tripp wrestles with the concept of arrival. Specifically, as we saw last time, he warns of the carnival mirrors of ministry that can distort the true reality of our souls. Related to that, Tripp gives some clear Results of Thinking You’ve Arrived:
1) You will think that you don’t need what you preach (or teach or study).
2) You will not be open to the ministry of the body of Christ.
3) You will expect of others the perfection that you think you’ve achieved.
4) You will feel qualified to have more control than you have.
5) You won’t feel the need for daily meditative communion with Christ.
6) You will take credit for successes that only grace can produce.
7) You will feel entitled to what you could never earn or achieve.
8) You will be less than watchful and protective when it comes to temptation and sin.
9) You will load more on your ministry than you can responsibly handle.
Again, all of this flows from distortion. As Tripp closes, he reminds us “that you and I are still a bit of a mess. Yes, by grace we often get it right, but we also often get it completely wrong. There are times when we are the exuberant celebrants of the Lord, and there are other times when we are just full of ourselves. There are times when we are deeply grateful, but there are other times when we feel entitled and demanding… All of this is to say that the great spiritual war doesn’t rage only outside of us; there is ample evidence every day that it still rages inside of us.”
What’s the remedy? “Gospel-driven, Christ-centered ministry, one that gives grace to those who hear, doesn’t start with theological knowledge; no, it starts with a humble heart. It starts with the recognition of your own need and the acknowledgement that you and I are more like than unlike the people to whom God has called us to minister.”
With you in this dangerous calling…