No ‘Hot Dogs’ Allowed

He was in every one of my high school gym classes. He was on every athletic team I ever played on. Whether basketball, soccer, football, or baseball, he was there. Most of the time, he possessed exceptional athletic abilities. But once in a while his greatness was only in his mind. Regardless, one trait remained—he was a glory hog. Our physical education teacher often loudly called him a “hot dog” because he always hogged the ball and stole the show. His idea of a team was a group of people whose sole purpose of existence was to make him look good. The concept of each team member working together toward a common goal was foreign to him. Unfortunately, this hot dog mentality also creeps into churches and our own ministries. The Apostle Paul called it “selfish ambition” (Phil 1:17). It is the fruit of pride and the enemy of team ministry.

Team ministry is not something new. It originates in the Scriptures. First, let us briefly look at the New Testament basis for team ministry and then we will examine its benefits.

Basis 1: Jesus started the concept of team ministry. When Jesus first sent His disciples out to preach and heal, He sent them out in pairs (Mark 6:7).

Basis 2: The apostles developed team ministry. This is seen most keenly in the practice of the church at Antioch. Having delivered funds for famine relief to the Jerusalem church, the ministry team of Barnabas and Saul returned along with John Mark (Acts 12:25). Then the Holy Spirit called the same ministry team to go on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-3).

New Testament examples of team ministry reveal four benefits:  Continue at Paul Tautges

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Five Misdiagnosed Symptoms

In the Emergency Room, decisions of life and death are regularly made with extreme pressure and very limited information. Symptoms present themselves and a trained, discerning mind diagnoses the real issue. Get it right and the treatment plan takes over. Get it wrong and not even the best treatment plan is able to fully help.

But what about diagnosing spiritual problems? Only God is omniscient and has a full, uninfluenced view of the human heart (1 Samuel 16:7). As believers, our discernment must be driven by the insights and fruit Scripture directs us toward as His Word exposes and corrects issues of the heart (Matthew 7:20; Hebrews 4:12-13). Many more could be added, but here are five symptoms that are commonly misdiagnosed by pastors:

1. Remorse misdiagnosed as repentance

Remorse is the reaction to the temporal, human consequences of sin. It springs from guilt and often seeks to halt the sin for a season. Mere remorse does not require any supernatural power. Remorse is not repentance. True repentance is God’s supernatural, sanctifying work in our hearts! It is both forsaking sin and turning to righteousness (2 Corinthians 7:10-11). It is the abandoning of self as the Spirit works in us to put off sinful thoughts, words and actions and works in us to putting on righteousness (Colossians 3:1-11) producing His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). Guilt and God’s wrath are not erased by remorse and His discipline will continue to remain until a believer is brought to repentance on a given sin issue (Hebrews 12:6).   Continue at Jim Stitzinger

A Very Grave Person