Jonathan Evans

THE GUARDRAILS OF GODLY COUNSEL: AVOID THE DITCHES

It is a great joy to see a Christian find a good, solid local church, get plugged in and begin to grow and mature in their faith. Their character is formed and shaped by being around and with other Christians. They begin to thrive as their relationships with Jesus and with other Christians deepen. They learn to trust and confide in others, and others learn to trust and confide in them. There is mutual encouragement.

 

One of the greater blessings a Christian finds in the company of a local church is wise and godly counsel. It is no secret that there are scenarios and circumstances, decisions and struggles, when we don’t know what to do. There may be two solid options or seemingly none. Either way, “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22) 

It is a great sadness, then, to see some Christians not seeking the enormous blessing of godly counsel, or even ignoring it. 

 

UNGODLY COUNSEL

Ungodly counsel clouds the mind. It unsettles the heart. In the company of ungodly counsel, peer pressure can take over. Family ties can pull under. The mind that once thought clear about the present and the future is now uncertain. Common sense is weakened and faith is shaken. Rash judgment and decisions ensue. The Christian in this position can very quickly doubt, if not forget, the stability their church family brought them. The joy of following Christ is quickly diminished under the growing influence of pleasing people. We begin to trust in others. Those who have not helped us grow in our faith become more important in our hearts and bigger in our minds than those who have helped us.

 

NO GODLY COUNSEL

Seeking no godly counsel closes our mind. Our mind is deluded into thinking we need no one else to bounce ideas off of, or run decisions by. We become arrogant and independent, wrongly assuming God speaks to us, just not through others. Those around us who at one point we looked up to, respected, and enlisted for help and counsel, now become small and dull in our eyes. We begin to trust in ourselves. Unfortunately, the Christian in this position ends up making big and bad decisions - decisions they will greatly regret. They find themselves in circumstances and in messes beyond their ability to control.      

 

GODLY COUNSEL

Godly counsel clears the mind. Because of the relationships developed and established with other Christians in a local church, we come to trust their opinion and counsel. Quite simply, we trust them because they love us. They’ve cared and prayed for us, laughed and cried with us. When we needed to talk, they listened. They have demonstrated who they are by how they live. They are people we are genuinely thankful for, because God has used them in our lives in both small and significant ways.  

When we put ourselves in the position of asking for godly counsel, the result is that we’re often put in a position of discomfort or disagreement. We walk away feeling like we’re losing control of our lives, and they’re taking it. We don’t like being told that our plans are not wise or that our ideas are not well thought-through. We feel this way because this is the way of mutual submission. This is the way of wisdom: to seek wise counsel AND to accept wise correction. When we learn to submit to and trust those whom God has brought into our lives as friends and wise counselors, we learn to trust God. 

 

GUARDRAILS

Every Christian needs these guardrails of wise and godly counsel and correction. Otherwise, we run the risk of driving our lives off the road, one bad decision after another. If we continue to live this way, sooner or later, we’ll end up in a ditch where it is possible that no one will find us, where potentially there will be no way out or back. But if we ask and listen and receive, although we may feel at times like we’re driving blindly or going nowhere, slowly but surely we are making progress - we’re growing and maturing and reaching our next destination in life.

HOW TO FIGHT FOR SUNDAYS (against complaining and criticism)

For pastors and leaders, Sunday (or the weekend service) is the accumulation and culmination of many hours and days of diligent hard work, be it mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and/or physically. As a result, we welcome Sunday with a high degree of expectation and anticipation. But it is also true that far too often we leave Sunday’s service either complaining, maybe about an oversight somewhere in the service order or criticizing someone, maybe for their lack of enthusiasm. And where there’s one, the other is sure to follow.

It is unfortunate that so many pastors and leaders leave a time purposefully set apart by God for meeting with His people in a bad mood. As much as it depends on us, we must learn to fight against such things as complaining and criticism. Here are nine ways I’m learning to do that:

1. PRAY - this should be a given, the most obvious thing in the book! The best way to guard our hearts against complaining and criticizing ourselves, others, and even God is to maintain and cultivate a heart of prayer. If we neglect prayer, we lose our spiritual sight, hearing, and feeling.

2. BE PREPARED as much as possible - try all media (videos, music, etc.) BEFORE the service or before a class begins, as well as testing all mics and instruments; make sure any needed sign-up sheets, booths, tables, technology (etc.) is set-up BEFORE they’re needed. Glitches will occur, but hopefully not because we were unprepared.

3. PLAN all that you can - think through the entire service (or class, worship set, etc.) BEFORE the service begins. Think through the transitions and parts of what you’re doing to avoid awkward moments or the appearance of being disorganized. Overlooked details can sabotage many well-intentioned plans. 

4. COMMUNICATE beforehand - clearly and abundantly communicate with everyone involved. Miscommunication and a lack of communication are easy to avoid, but hard to overcome. 

5. PREVENT last minute changes - if we plan effectively, there shouldn’t be any overlooked details of importance. A last minute addition or subtraction to the service order (or class schedule, worship set, etc.) will often only lead to distraction and frustration throughout. The success of a plan is in the confidence everyone shares about the plan.

6. PROTECT the atmosphere - without question everyone involved and attending a service comes with many things on their hearts and minds. Yet, as leaders we must be vigilant and diligent to focus attention and conversation on the task at hand. Whatever other things there might be, they are not the priority. It’s not that they’re unimportant, but simply that there’s a time and place for everything.

7. PUSH AGAINST bad attitudes - don’t ignore a bad attitude in your own heart or in the heart of another. Point it out and address it. The ministry that is about to happen and the people we are about to serve cannot be influenced or, worse, poisoned by hidden, lingering bad attitudes.

8. TAKE THE ROOM TEMPERATURE - if we’ve prepared, planned, and communicated, we’ve freed ourselves up to greet and talk to people. By doing so, you can get a sense of their distractions, concerns, hurts, joys, hopes, etc. This furthers both the ABILITY to minister and to serve people where they are at and the POSSIBILITY of fruit being produced in their lives.

9. DISCERN - we must discern the Holy Spirit’s movement and follow Him above all other things. If we’ve prayed and asked Him for His plans, and not simply asked Him to bless our plans, then we can confidently ask Him to lead us wherever, however. Additionally, we must never forget that we battle not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12). We ARE at war. Therefore, we must not ignore, but discern any potential movement and threat of the enemy and act accordingly.

 

Sundays should be marked by joy and peace, grace and love, thanksgiving and hope, not by grumbling and complaining, criticism and gossip, discontentment and disappointment. We serve a good and faithful God, and while we rely upon His power alone to transform people, He still asks us to work hard and plan effectively. By doing so, we can avoid some of the common pitfalls we many times stumble into.