The Most Important Thing

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me. Rev 3:20

I wonder what 100 pastors would say, if I woke them up from a dead sleep and asked them to quickly answer, “What is the most important thing your church needs from you?” I wonder what a thousand church members would say in the same scenario? I imagine there would a several things on the table: Great leadership, great preaching, great heart for people, great evangelists…

Still, if given a chance to reflect I’m confident your soul already knows. Without this one thing, nothing else has lasting value. Without this one thing, the pace and pressures of ministry in our darkening culture choke us out like an elephant on our air hose. What is this one thing?

Jesus said it this way in John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

What your church, and family most need from you is that you have a vital, genuine, passionate relationship with Jesus.

Without this, everything else, anything else is empty at best or deceptively dangerous at worst. Without abiding the pace of the work keeps us from seeing that the work isn’t working!

Sadly what Jesus makes clear, our world obscures. His message is easy to understand. Look at it more closely. It begins with an invitation. Abide! This abiding is a two way street. He is in us, and we are to be in Him. Abiding involves camping out, putting down roots and setting up camp. Abiding is not a season or a fad. It is the foundational core of life in Christ.

After the invitation He gives the two sided blessing and warning. Those who abide bear much fruit. Those who do NOT abide are incapable of bearing fruit. Pretty clear. If we don’t abide, we will have no real Jesus impact on those we are called to serve. But look at the upside! When we abide, Jesus produces fruit through us! WOW! What could be better than that?

Why not call a time out right now and consider: How many people experience us without experiencing Jesus?! Is your relationship with Jesus deepening or drifting? Are you truly digesting His word so it transforms you or just pre-chewing it for others? Do you see the difference? What do you need to deepen your roots in Jesus daily? See it, name it embrace it!

How many people experience us without experiencing Jesus? Is your relationship with Jesus deepening or drifting?

Imagine the freedom and impact that come when Jesus is working powerfully through you without any kinks in the hose! Let Jesus’ presence so fill you that the overflow can’t be helped. When your church- His church- experiences this, they will have been pastored well.

I’m pulling for you and praying for you. Let me know if I can be of service to you.