Follow Through

If you play golf, baseball or anything where you have to swing an item to participate, you have likely been told in order to be using correct form, you must follow through with your swing. Therein lies a truth to be learned in our Christian walk. Consider James' words:

"Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned." - James 5:12

Over the past few years, if you know me, you know that Jill and I have endured much in the way of wounding from those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. So much so, that I now am learning to trust again. The up side of that is that God has taught me that He alone will never forsake me. The down side is that when you are in ministry, in order to function as the Body, I believe, you have to have a certain amount of transparency and vulnerability and rely on each other. I am not so naive to believe that I must bear all of my soul to all that I come into contact with at all times, but I also have been in ministry long enough to have learned that if you are not real with folks and cannot depend on each other, it is not healthy and can impede your effectiveness as the Body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12-26)

However, with that said, I think one of the things that I struggle with the most being back in ministry, is being able to take people at their word. And unfortunately, believers do not make it easy. I have had a habit of overcommitting myself like many, but at the core of who I am, I feel it is sin to say "I will do that" and never follow through. I cannot tell you how many people tell me they will do such and such and never do it regardless if it is big or small things. To me, if an non-believer is watching us from the outside (and they are!), and sees that we, for the vast majority of the time, fail to keep our commitments to each other (and they do!), why would he or she want anything to do with the church.

If you have no intention on following through with what you say, just say, "no, I am sorry I cannot do that at this time." In my book, to not do so is the same as lying and showing a lack of integrity. To quote Paul, " not that I have attained all this," but when I do screw up and overcommit and can't follow through, I accept my lumps, confess I dropped the ball and ask for forgiveness. I certainly don't turn around and do it again and again destroying my credibility with others. I know I am whining about a pet peeve of mine, and I apologize. But, I keep coming back to the verse quoted above. Let us strive for excellence in all that we say and do and may it be all for His glory. Amen.