By Beau Crosetto
When some of us were at Urbana we got together for our first ever A.P.E gathering and we had a great time sharing, praying and encouraging each other about all things apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic.
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One of the things that was prayed out was an image of a fan spinning but the light was out.
The interpretation on this image was that the temptation for us as catalytic leaders is to lead and be busy, essentially spinning around, but not be fueled by the constant light of Jesus.
We appear active and “on” but there is no light!
The challenge went out to old and young A.P.E. leaders to be those that are connected with Jesus, hearing from him, and letting their energy, vision, and action come from that place.
It was a great word, and I have been thinking about that much the last two weeks. Because I am such a catalyst, such an activator, it is really easy for me to find my self doing “God things” without really connecting with God that day. I don’t want to be like this and our real danger as catalytic leaders is to live and work like this.
I don’t want to be a fan spinning with the light dim or off in the middle.
I want to be someone who is fueled and led by the light of God into all the planting, training and evangelism I do.
So here are some questions to mess with you:
- What are you doing right now that doesn’t take much prayer or dependence of God?
- If you can make it through your day without really praying, why do you think that is? What are you believing about yourself, and God when you can go a day without really praying?
- How do you know that what you are doing in your day is really what God wants you doing?
- When are some times in the last month when you have really heard from God? Where was that, how did it happen, what was powerful about those times? How can you repeat it?
One of the honest questions I have asked is in the last year, is
“why do we need to pray when there is so much to do that we already know God wants us to do?”
And one of the best answers I have received is this,
“When we are not stopping and praying, and really being led by God through prayer daily and weekly, we start to believe the lie that it is up to us, our strength, our vision, our gifts, our skills. Stopping to pray and connect with God even inside of what you know you need to do allows God to continually remind us that we are not in control and He is.”
Does the image of a fan spinning and no light on connect with you as a catalytic leader?
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Absolutely. I was recently reading David Platt’s book “Radical” and he writes that one of the ways in which we, as Christians, have absorbed the American Dream is in the ways we depend on our own skill sets and gifts to do ministry rather than being totally dependent on Christ. He says:
“We have convinced ourselves that if we can position our resources and organize our strategies, then in church as in every other sphere of life, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. But what is strangely lacking in the picture of performances, personalities, programs, and professionals is desperations for the power of God. God’s power is at best an add-on to our strategies. I am frightened by the reality that the church I lead can carry on most of our activities smoothly, efficiently, even successfully, never realizing the the Holy Spirit of God is virtually absent from the picture. We can so easily deceive ourselves, mistaking the presence of physical bodies in a crowd for the existence of spiritual life in a community.” (pg. 50).
Honestly, the question you pose is one that is seriously messing with my wife and I as we lead in our church. We’ve started having some good conversations about what it would look like to be displaced and over our heads in ministry so that we would really have to be dependent on God. It has been too easy for us to coast on our own competence rather than rely on God and we’d like that to change.
Thanks for this post. It was right on target. Wish I could have been at Urbana.
~Nick
Thanks for the thoughts and reflection. I love that you are struggling with that! It will lead to some good places!
Great post beau. Good fuel for reflection today.
Thanks man! Blessings today!
This prayer and revelation at Urbana was a major kairos moment for me while also being a time of conviction. As an apostolic, entrepreneurial leader, I always have to remind myself that busyness isn’t necessarily being about the Father’s business. The saying is true, activity doesn’t equal accomplishment all the time. It is so critical that we remember the Spirit has empowered us to serve, not our own works righteousness. It’s by Christ’s atonement on the cross that the world has been saved, not anything we do in ministry. Let’s keep the Light of Jesus shinning at the center of our lives 🙂
Great thoughts Joshua! Great to meet you at Urbana!
This is a major issue especially in the American Culture. We are continually taught that we are to be self reliant and to make things happen. We forget that God can do more than we can image or ask. We need to focus on Jesus and let him make it happen.
Great point!