As Christian leaders, it’s too easy to be so focused on the work of the Lord, that we forget the Lord of the work. Ministry can become the center on which our life revolves rather than Jesus!

By His grace, we don’t want to lose our first love…HIM!

Eric Geiger addresses this in today’s guest post.

Guest Post by Eric Geiger

As a family, we love a week at the lake during the summer. Several summers ago, we rented a boat on Lake Powell in Utah, a beautiful location, and had an amazing week. We rented the boat from a family business, and the owner brought the boat to the lake and backed it into the water. As we were waiting for our turn in line, I commented on how awesome Lake Powell is. The owner of the boat said, “We moved here after visiting for a summer, but the only time I come to the lake now is for work.”

I thought about his comment all day. He said it with a sense of regret. “The only time I come to the lake now is for work.” He moved to the area for the lake, but now the lake is only work for him.

His experience is a massive danger and a caution for ministry leaders. Just as he moved for the beauty of the lake, we can get pulled into ministry because we see the beauty of God transforming lives. But just as he has lost his sense of awe because the lake became his job, we can lose our awe as the work of God becomes commonplace for us.

If our awe for what God is doing through us is greater than our awe for what God has done for us in Christ, ministry becomes an idol. Ministry is an idol when we start to enjoy ministry more than God. Eventually, we will be left disappointed and empty, as anything that is not Him will always disappoint us. I know because, at times, I have replaced the God of ministry with ministry as my god on the throne of my life. By God’s grace, He has brought me to repentance and back to Himself.

We must fight to not lose our wonder for God. In my thirty years of ministry, here are four ways I have learned to fight.

1. Find ways to stir your wonder and awe.

I have learned that a long mountain bike ride, looking at His creation and listening to a sermon or worship music as I ride, stirs my awe for Him.

2. Tell yourself and others stories of His grace.

The daily grind of ministry and the reality that the job is never done necessitates moments when we take a step back to see all God is doing and watch in awe. Our team has a 45-minute story time where we hear stories of God’s saving, sustaining, and sanctifying grace, and the stories remind us of God’s grace in our own lives.

3. Don’t graduate from the basics.

Time in God’s Word, prayer, and fasting, worshiping not to evaluate but to enjoy—don’t move on from these sacred disciplines that God uses to keep us.

4. Do something you would only do as a Christian, outside of your role.

Go on a mission trip, volunteer to lead a high school Bible study (I did for four years, and it was so good for me), or serve as a greeter on your weekend off. Doing something outside of your role that reminds you of your identity as a servant will remind you why you got into this to begin with.