Over my 20 plus years in ministry I have tried to maximize my reach and have had a desire to pastor a church with a significant (2000 plus) weekly attendance each Sunday. I believed, and still do,  that I have a gift that would gather thousands to hear the word of the Lord and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

During my time in ministry, I made decisions personal decisions to obey God (as best I could). These decisions effected my choice of spouse, my professional ambitions, educational pursuits, family relationships and more. I didn’t want to make a foolish choice maritally, educationally, or financially,  because those choices  would deter me from my dream of pastoring  a mega church. I worked on my character, submitted myself to leaders, worked on my craft and yet the notoriety I thought would come has yet to materialize. 

It’s been discouraging to watch, from the outside mind you, other men in my vocation with lesser gifts and questionable characters reach more people and have greater followings, greater popularity, and greater affirmation, notoriety, and celebrity. 

What I’ve learned  is that, regardless of my efforts,  my best is not good enough for some people.  God’s gift of free will does not provide a space for God to manipulate the will of men when it comes to people choosing a church or a pastor. God gives people the opportunity to choose who to give their soul access to.The gift of free will creates the possibility that people can choose a person God did’t send.

There are an innumerable amount of men and women who have been graced with exceptional gifts, talents, and anointings. However, I have learned that I should not judge my ministry effectiveness using comparison and contrast. It’s just not healthy. I don’t know the price they paid, the headaches, or the sacrifices they made, or the process God put them through to be who they are in the Body today. There are a myriad of variables that contribute to the “success” of a ministry. Consistently measuring  your ministry by the standards of others will only lead to discouragement, disappointment, and eventually depression.

I have discovered that the reality is that there are some pastors, ministers, and preachers that are not God’s choice but the people’s choice. They like King Saul, may have started with all the best of intentions but eventually, through the fear of man, have become a slave to opinion polls, likes, and views. The call of God on our lives has to mean more to us than popularity on earth, but rather power in and from heaven. We must come to grips with the reality that many people may know you and God not know you all. As preachers, ministers, minstrels, psalmist, deacons, and leaders, we must desire to be known of God and allow that paradigm to temper how we want to be known of men. 

I’ll say it again, God will not and does not usurp the will of men. Men and women have the power to choose. This means as ministers of the Gospel and leaders of and in the Kingdom, we must be content with being God’s choice, even when we are not the people’s choice. 

We have to be in this for God’s approval and not humanity’s. This does not give us license to be cruel, crass, or mean. We should lead like Christ led. We must also however understand that the leadership and ministry of Jesus Christ caused people choose Barabbas and not Him. Barabbas was the people’s choice! 

Barabbas was more popular with the religious leaders in the city of Jerusalem that faithful day 2000 years ago. Jesus was more powerful and yet less popular! The religious elite, the culturally connected, celebrated a man who could not do what they desired while crucifying the man with power to save them from death. As leaders, are we secure enough to maintain our character while being rejected as a counterfeit as the counterfeit is being celebrated as the real thing? 

The people of our culture continuously cry “Give us Barabbas!”  You and I must not be threatened or swayed by those cries. We must not cater our programming, our ministry models, or our messages to accommodate this culture’s cries for Barabbas. The Apostle Paul warned Timothy of this day when he told him that “they will not endure sound doctrine.” Ultimately the people will get their choice.  

The long and short of it is as preachers of the Gospel, as kingdom leaders, we must be in ministry for the pleasure of our God, not ourselves, and not others. We cannot be seduced by numerical and quantitative metrics of success because it is possible to do all the work of ministry and get to heaven and hear “Depart from me, I never knew you!” 

Our desire to be known in heaven should be greater than our desire to be known on earth! Our consecration and obedience is not a utilitarian leverage point for God to send more people to our churches so we can raise more money and live affluently. Obedience doesn’t guarantee success (by the world’s standards). You can work on your craft and still only see 50 people a week. You can be the husband of one wife, live a life of holiness, and still never be recognized or celebrated in your jurisdiction, denomination, or reformation. Obedience for success sake is manipulation. We obey, consecrate ourselves, and submit because we are in love with a person, not so that we might fulfill a purpose! 

God won’t give you what will turn you from Him! Unfortunately, many of us have been working to acquire things that will turn us from God. Could it be possible that the culture of celebrity in America is the greater reason for mega churches than God is? Could it be possible that many of us have been formed to work for things we aren’t graced for?

Father, forgive us for coveting things that would turn our hearts from you. Even as I write these words there is still a desire to be popular and famous. Forgive me for my facade of smallness when I really want to be big. I confess. I want to be effective, I want to have nice things, I want to be rich, I want to be wealthy, prosperous, and affluent. Please help me to develop a desire for what you desire! I’ve obeyed because of what I thought it would get me. Forgive me for that Father. In Jesus’ Name! At the end of the day, if my ministry pleases you…that’s all that matters. Teach me how to please you and help me to preach to make you smile. Teach me how to build a church that makes heaven smile and gives you glory. Eternity is too long to live it trying to please myself. Father grace us to live like we are your choice even when we are not “the people’s choice” 

We shouldn’t be a stumbling block to people making their choice. If we are more and more like Jesus so that when people reject us they are rejecting someone like God’s son and they will be held accountable for that choice. God won’t hold us accountable for their choices. God can prompt them but God will not make the decision for them. God is always prompting, but people aren’t always making the right choice! God is prompting at every altar call, with every sermon, every flyer, every post, but people don’t always make the right choice! It’s not that he’s not talking, it’s just that his voice can’t be heard! Tradition mutes his voice, personal issues, comfort, familiarity, preference, convenience, fear, stress, pressure, family, all these things mute or muffle the voice of the Lord.

People receive pastors like they receive Jesus. God prompts and they choose. We cannot think however that people choosing a pastor makes that pastor God’s choice. The bible says in Jeremiah that God will send pastors, it doesn’t say that the people will choose who he sends. After all,  Saul was a king, but ultimately he was the people’s choice! God’s choice are always after his heart! 

Kingdom authority is based on proximity not popularity. It’s about how close you are to Him not how popular you are with them. Proximity is POWER! He chose you because of how drawn you are to him, not because of the potential draw the people would have to you! Whether you lead 10,000 or 10, make sure you know the answer to this question, “Are you God’s choice or the people’s choice?”