I was honored to be able to present our Momentum program at the Christian Stewardship Network conference in Dallas. This is a group of leaders who have dedicated to disciplining people in the Word on the need for total stewardship. Each day they start out the event with praise and worship. On the first day, the worship leader spoke for a bit. His topic was basically, “What are you doing with the resources God has given you?”
The part that really spoke to me was when he mentioned the woman of sin in Luke who came to the house where the Pharisees had set up a dinner for Jesus. As she came before Jesus, she wept what I would think to be uncontrollably. Why would I say that? Because she then knelt down before Jesus, cried her tears upon His feet, and took her hair down to His feet and wiped away her brokenness. In my mind, it must have been enough tears to “wash” His feet.
On top of that, she didn’t use her hands, or her clothes, or a simple cloth to wipe the tears away. Instead, she took her hair, which Paul said is a woman’s glory, and used it to continue to humble herself. She then used, what I can only imagine was the greatest gift she had available, perfume to pour out onto His feet. In essence, she used her greatest resources to minister to God Himself. How pleased was God that day!
So the question becomes, what are you doing with the resources that God has given you? And how are you using those resources to minister to God? “Well, how do I minister to God? It’s not like He’s right here in front of me!” Well first, He is. And second, worship is a way of ministering to God; and I don’t just mean singing at church.
The Jewish people believe that your work is worship. They believe that it is a calling for us to take care of God’s children through the catalyst of our jobs. As we do that, it’s worshiping God. As a leader, you have the opportunity…no…the obligation everyday to, as Rabbi Daniel Lapin says, “become obsessively preoccupied with the needs of others.” When you take care of His children, you are telling Him that you love Him!
Or, you can be like the Pharisees who were happy with having thrown Jesus a dinner. They felt like it was a great use of their resources.
