The Ministry of Small Things
Diane Langberg
We live in a society that has certain expectations of leadership, qualities that our modern society demands: Expertise and Charisma! We define ourselves in terms of our abilities. Leadership is reduced to a treadmill of acquiring more and more skills and our skills are measured by our outcome, what we produce! We become governed by the outward results of our service, instead of being governed by an intimate relationship with Jesus. Ministry becomes the Master, and we are seduced into obedience to the ministry instead of obedience to Jesus.
Yet the Master of Ministry is never satisfied, as there is always more that you have to do. This master does not care for your character, but your outcomes. (This can help understand why Ravi and others fell!) But the foundation of all ministry is not service to God, but God Himself! Delighting in Him, not the outcomes!
Jesus entered in the ordinary and transformed the common into the precious, the mundane into the sacred and as a result, the entire world was changed. Jesus became common, making himself of no reputation, so we could become precious!
There is also great insight into the character of Solomon with great applications to us in the present day.
CH