Professional Spirituality (Or Why God is Not Your Job)

Whoever this pastor is, he looks happy and professional.

(I'm indebted to my former counseling professor, Dr. Anthony Headley, for much of what follows.)

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young.  Instead, set an example for the believers through your speech, behavior, love, faith, and by being sexually pure.  Until I arrive, pay attention to public reading, preaching, and teaching.  Don't neglect the spiritual gift in you that was given through prophecy when the elders laid hands on you.  Practice these things, and live by them so that your progress will be visible to all.  Focus on working on your own development and on what you teach.  If you do this, you will save yourself and those who hear you."  (1 Tim. 4:12-16, CEB)

Sometimes it becomes very easy to think of God as my job.  My spirituality gets molded around preaching and teaching, so much so that when a reprieve from those duties come, I can slide into spiritual entropy and rebellion in an attempt to get some “space” between me and my “work.”  It can be very revealing on how I have come to view God when I go through a period of rest and all those responsibilities are held at bay for a bit.  Sometimes I find that I have been keeping a professional spirituality in order to fulfill my responsibilities as a Christian leader while neglecting my personal, just-between-me-and-God time.  I'm pretty sure everyone in Christian leadership bumps up against this at some point or another.

God is not our job; He’s our Father.  That means there is more depth to our relationship than Him simply helping us fulfill a public role.  He does that, and we shouldn't neglect our responsibility of being faithful members in the Church- -that's necessary.  But a relationship with a parent is meant to be one of love, joy, growth, receptivity, humility, and permanence.  That does not change whether we are floundering in a maelstrom of responsibility or peacefully reposing from the demands of life.  God is concerned about you and I just as much as he is concerned about those we serve.  He wants the best for us, which doesn't always look like we think it should.  

I know a lot of Christians who want to serve and help others for Jesus.  It's harder to find those who are intentionally working on growing themselves in Christ as Paul instructs Timothy in the above passage.  And strangely, it's often the ones who are growing themselves whom God uses to bear lasting fruit in others.  Our personal growth and the growth of those we serve are intricately connected; the two are mutually additive.  What sort of example are we setting when it comes to the Christian life?  It can be easy to perform all the duties for helping others while staying far away from God in our personal lives, leaving an example of a well-meaning but divided faith that is relevant for others but not for me.

God help me; I've got a ways to go in this area, and that's not false humility talking.  Are you taking time to listen to God’s voice and grow into Christlikeness?  When was the last time you faced a fear, or stopped avoiding something, or dealt with a personal issue?  Is there something you need to work out or explore in more depth?