Ultimately, we need to remember what the goal of ministry is—the goal of our
lives with others is—to love. We are to
see the other person’s needs and try to meet them, whether it be the need of
respect, the need of food, the need of encouragement or the need of
rebuke. We should not be acting from our
own ambition or self-interest, as it says in Philippians 2, but we should be
like Jesus and sacrifice our own interests for the sake of others.
In ministry we may see
someone as an enemy because they are threatening the ministry as a whole. In that way, we might want to attack someone
verbally because they are our enemy. But
Jesus told us that we are to love even our enemies. This means we are not to attack them, but to
see their need and to meet it. Even if
someone is acting inappropriately, we can speak to them with gentleness and
respect (Galatians 6:1). We need to
remember, as Christian leaders we are not to judge as the world judges, but to
see the other person, no matter how difficult or wrong they seem, as a person
in need of love. And we are to give them
what love we have.
Admittedly, sometimes we are so stressed or
frantic or harried that we cannot love as we should. In that case, we should confess our failings,
apologize to the one we have not loved and act more appropriately.
This doesn’t mean we
don’t enforce rules. We certainly
do. But we do so in the Spirit of
gentleness, humility and compassion. As
we are to do all things. To love in this
way, we need to pray and ask for the Spirit to give us the peace and love we
need to approach others, especially when our buttons are being pushed.
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