It Is What with Your Soul?
by Paul Trementozzi on March 25, 2020It Is What with Your Soul?
There is a Pharisee in us all. The greatest danger that we have as leaders is becoming comfortable with that Pharisee within. That happens when we learn how to succeed without staying connected to the one who fills our soul with life. The problem is that we don’t have to have a healthy soul to be effective in ministry. Outward success is what is most frightening to me as a kingdom person.
I think we all know what it’s like to preach on Sunday what we haven’t lived or experienced Monday – Saturday. The issue here really isn’t about projecting a false or hypocritical image, the serious issue and danger are that we get comfortable with it and actually learn how to succeed with a disconnected soul. I believe the Spirit is admonishing us to pay more attention to what’s happening on the inside.
Ruth Barton in her book “Strengthening the Soul of your Leadership” says, “It is possible to gain the world of ministry success and lose your own soul in the midst of it all.”
Lance Witt wrote, “It’s scary to realize that the path to external success and internal emptiness can be the same road.”
So how healthy is your soul? Colossians 3:4 says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Our ministry is not our life. Jesus is supposed to be our lives and learning to find Jesus in every aspect of life is the key to a healthy soul. When you have a healthy soul, your conversation reflects it. Your contemplation reflects that as well.
We are qualified for spiritual leadership because His presence in our lives is noticeable and that demands a healthy soul. The moment we forget why we are chosen is the moment we lose the anointing to meet the challenge to attract the world back to Him! The children of Israel ended up breaking covenant with God because they confused their chosen status. We’re called to be attractive, and the only way to be attractive to a depraved world is to have a healthy soul full of His presence. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Col 3:12). This kind of clothing comes from the healthy soul shop.
Jesus puts it this way… I am the vine and you are branches… those who remain IN me, and I IN them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do NOTHING!” (John 15:5) Our ministry has got to flow out of our relationship to Him.
A reporter once asked an insightful question when interviewing a woman from the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra: “How does it feel to get a standing ovation from the crowd at the end of your performance and then wake up in the morning to a negative review in the newspaper? Her response was powerful. She said, “Over time I have learned not to pay attention to the applause of the crowd or the disapproval of the critics. The only approval I need is from my conductor because he is the only one who really knows how I am supposed to perform.”
There is only one for whom we need approval, and that is our heavenly conductor! He is the lover of our soul and wants us to be healthy and growing in relationship with Him each day. Here’s the evaluation tool of a successful servant of Jesus… What does the conductor say? What does your soul say?
Paul Trementozzi
backThere is a Pharisee in us all. The greatest danger that we have as leaders is becoming comfortable with that Pharisee within. That happens when we learn how to succeed without staying connected to the one who fills our soul with life. The problem is that we don’t have to have a healthy soul to be effective in ministry. Outward success is what is most frightening to me as a kingdom person.
I think we all know what it’s like to preach on Sunday what we haven’t lived or experienced Monday – Saturday. The issue here really isn’t about projecting a false or hypocritical image, the serious issue and danger are that we get comfortable with it and actually learn how to succeed with a disconnected soul. I believe the Spirit is admonishing us to pay more attention to what’s happening on the inside.
Ruth Barton in her book “Strengthening the Soul of your Leadership” says, “It is possible to gain the world of ministry success and lose your own soul in the midst of it all.”
Lance Witt wrote, “It’s scary to realize that the path to external success and internal emptiness can be the same road.”
So how healthy is your soul? Colossians 3:4 says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Our ministry is not our life. Jesus is supposed to be our lives and learning to find Jesus in every aspect of life is the key to a healthy soul. When you have a healthy soul, your conversation reflects it. Your contemplation reflects that as well.
We are qualified for spiritual leadership because His presence in our lives is noticeable and that demands a healthy soul. The moment we forget why we are chosen is the moment we lose the anointing to meet the challenge to attract the world back to Him! The children of Israel ended up breaking covenant with God because they confused their chosen status. We’re called to be attractive, and the only way to be attractive to a depraved world is to have a healthy soul full of His presence. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Col 3:12). This kind of clothing comes from the healthy soul shop.
Jesus puts it this way… I am the vine and you are branches… those who remain IN me, and I IN them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do NOTHING!” (John 15:5) Our ministry has got to flow out of our relationship to Him.
A reporter once asked an insightful question when interviewing a woman from the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra: “How does it feel to get a standing ovation from the crowd at the end of your performance and then wake up in the morning to a negative review in the newspaper? Her response was powerful. She said, “Over time I have learned not to pay attention to the applause of the crowd or the disapproval of the critics. The only approval I need is from my conductor because he is the only one who really knows how I am supposed to perform.”
There is only one for whom we need approval, and that is our heavenly conductor! He is the lover of our soul and wants us to be healthy and growing in relationship with Him each day. Here’s the evaluation tool of a successful servant of Jesus… What does the conductor say? What does your soul say?
Paul Trementozzi
