When my sister-in-law offered me some McDonald French fries, my son told her that I did not like McDonald’s; that my favorite thing on their menu was probably the pop (which I think all tastes the same because of their ice.) I do occasionally eat fast food when I am out running errands or when I am traveling, but only as a convenience. Lack of planning can cause a sacrifice of taste as well as the money to buy fast food.
Lack of planning can also cause sacrifices to the ministries in which God has entrusted to us. I mentioned in Saturday’s blog (Spiritual Indigestion) that while working overnights I would prepare the lesson for Wednesday night church on Wednesday afternoons. This fast food ministry was never as effective as if I had spent time to really plan the lessons. An effective ministry preparation would have included much more time in prayer, planning and looking over the material throughout the week, and not running to Wal-Mart that afternoon hoping to find the materials needed for the craft or game I found for the end of the lesson.
Fast food ministry not only sacrifices the sanity of the worker, it sacrifices the quality of the lesson for both the ministry worker and the recipients. Because I was not spending the ideal amount of time in preparation for the class, I did not allow God to work on me through the lesson. I did not spend the time in prayer necessary to seek God’s guidance, to allow Him to teach me how I personally needed to apply the lessons to my own life. Furthermore, I did not spend time in prayer for the children that I would be teaching, asking God to use me in their lives.
A member of my Cluster (small group)once asked how we know when the ministry work we are doing is for God or to satisfy our own pride. The answer given was that when we pray about the ministry, God will use it for His purpose; it is His ministry through us. When we don’t turn it over to Him, it becomes our ministry and is ineffective.
Just like eating at McDonald’s, our schedules may cause fast food ministry to be unavoidable at times. But whether McDonald’s or ministry, it is not a healthy lifestyle to rely on fast food.
1 comment:
You have a really nice blog. Thanks for this one...I am guilty of running a fast food ministry to the class I teach Wed nights at church; the teens. There are only anywhere from 3-7 of them, but they deserve much more than I give them. I will have to work on it; especially the prayer part.
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