The Right Motivation

At the last Protege Huddle of the 2009-2010 class, I shared some final thoughts on leadership. One of the things I talked about was our motivation for ministry.

There are a lot of reasons we step into ministry leadership. For some of us, it is a genuine love for people and desire to see them grow. For others, it is an opportunity to invest their gifts. Some see a need and want to fill it. There are a few that simply cannot not lead. But at the end of the day, there is only one viable and valid reason for doing what we do--

To see God’s named honored and glorified in our generation.

Our love for people will fade every now and then. There will come a situation when we question our giftedness and a day when our passion will wane. The cost/benefits of meeting the need we see will not add up. We must do it for God and God alone.

In Ezekiel 44, we read about God's anger with the Levitical priests. Because they gave energy to lesser pursuits and worshiped lesser gods, God banned them from the most Holy Place. While they were allowed to continue ministering to the people, they were no longer allowed to minister directly to God. They continued to carry out their duties without experiencing the presence of God. Except for the priests from the line of Zadok. Because God remained their priority, they were allowed to continue ministering to the people while still enjoying the presence of God.

This passage challenges me. I never want to be in a situation where I am ministering to people but not experiencing the presence of God. And it begins by keeping God as our primary focus, priority, goal, and motivation.

What is your motivation for ministry? Make sure you are leading for the right reasons.