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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDo you see the parallels with church life? Historically, we had big dreams as a family of churches. If the phrases \u201cone suitcase challenge\u201d or \u201cgo anywhere, do anything, give up everything for God\u201d strike a chord within you, then you likely come from an era when as a church we thought we were taking over the world! Mission teams were going out weekly. Young faith was contagious. I remember watching the growth charts and thinking, \u201cThis is really happening!\u201d
But then the growth charts started to level off. The exponential growth promised in the discipleship study began to stall out. And since then, it\u2019s been a bit of a rocky road. In my therapy practice, many clients within our family of churches have expressed that they are mourning the loss of a dream. Many are disillusioned. And many are still putting in a valiant effort of service, contribution, and sacrifice in the name of helping the church to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the challenge though: our resolve will never last if our motivation is external.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s so easy to pick on the early disciples for their external ambitions. They thought that Jesus had come to militarily usher in an earthly kingdom. They wanted to sit at his left and his right. They literally argued about who was the greatest. More than once, they drew the comment, \u201cAre you so dull?\u201d from their Savior. That\u2019s basically a first century facepalm from the Lord of Lords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we\u2019re dull, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least, we are naturally given to thinking in earthly ways. We love to build stuff that we can see, and that is a recipe for burnout. Jesus came to build a largely unseen spiritual kingdom, but his followers struggled to see past the physical. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At one point, after being sent out on a practice mission with virtually nothing to sustain them, the disciples returned feeling victorious. And Jesus shared in their rejoicing. It was a victory! But he also warned them, \u201c…Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven\u201d (Luke 10:20). The disciples were all wrapped up in their outer accomplishments. They were charged up by their new-found invincibility. Yet Jesus knew that couldn\u2019t sustain them. He knew they would face some discouraging lows and wanted to arm them with something that would get them through to the end \u2014 the knowledge of their relationship with God and gracious standing before him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where does your hope live? Is it in your ability to serve, contribute, and sacrifice? Do your dreams depend on winning the world in one generation? Does your faith require external goal attainment to fuel it? Consider that true faith is based on what cannot<\/em> be seen. That\u2019s the point Hebrews 11 makes abundantly clear. When we place our hope on what we can see and do and accomplish, we are on shaky ground indeed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n God deeply impressed this lesson on Paul by taking him to the brink of death. In 2 Corinthians 1, the abnormally-born apostle faced an unbelievable amount of pressure. He said that his stress was so extreme, in fact, that at one point he literally wanted to die. Scholars differ on what precisely was happening to Paul and his crew that was so agonizing, but one thing is clear: the externals were pretty rough, and they were suffering badly. Their capacities had been completely overwhelmed. There was nothing they could do to fix this problem by their own power, but that was just the point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of us have to contend with the fact that no matter how hard we work, we can\u2019t fix the state of the church. We cannot solve the problems of the world. These are God-sized problems and that is by design. The amazing thing about this? It\u2019s where Paul\u2019s secret really comes to life. He declares, \u201cBut this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us<\/em>\u201d (2 Corinthians 1:9-10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we set our hope on ourselves or on the attainment of earthly goals (even ones that sound spiritual!), we set ourselves up for disappointment, burnout, or worse. When Christ fuels us and when our hope in the resurrection moves us and when the knowledge that our names are written in the Book of Life inspires us, we become unstoppable. Not us, but God living in us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I know that some of you feel burned out. You\u2019ve had your hand on the plow for a very long time, and you are feeling tired and burdened. That\u2019s why I teamed up with Joel Peed to build a course called \u201cThe Eremos Academy: A Path to Jesus\u2019 Light and Easy Yoke<\/a>\u201d. The course is designed to help you take your eyes off of yourself and truly depend on God. You can learn more about the course by watching the trailer below. The last day to sign up is January 23rd, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n