The Lord has blessed Empowering Action with an exceedingly godly and capable in-country team in regards to operations, which means that my role is overwhelmingly that of storyteller in the United States. This is a role that I relish, as it allows me to proclaim God’s wondrous deeds (Prov. 26:7), and, in addition, years ago I read that,
“The excellent leader is the steward-in-chief of the organization’s story…Leadership comes down to protecting the story, bringing others into the story, and keeping the organization accountable to the story. The leader tells the story, over and over again, refining it, updating it and driving it home.”
A recent story telling opportunity enabled me to reconnect with two former members of my junior high ministry, now in college. As I witnessed their leadership within their on-campus ministry and strength of their personal walk with the Lord, I was grateful to the Lord for allowing me to play a role in their spiritual development, resulting in a desire to “live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:10)
I found myself reflecting on the words of the Apostle John in 3 John 1:3-4,
“It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
3 John is the shortest book in the bible. It was written about 60 years after Jesus had ascended to heaven. It was a letter to a man named Gaius. It is believed that the Apostle John had probably led Gaius to the Lord, and Gaius had taken off in his faith, with a church meeting in his home. John writes to commend and encourage Gaius and the church members, calling them his “children.”
Were they literally his children?
His readers were “children of God,” as John 1:12 promises that “to all who receive Jesus Christ, to those who believe in His name, He gives them right to become children of God.”
But they were not John’s literal physical offspring. However, John, as their spiritual overseer, viewed them as his own spiritual children. He says, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
After 20 years of student ministry, I can tell you that the greatest joy of ministry for me is not to teach the truth. It is not to even know that students understand the truth. The greatest joy in ministry is to see “my spiritual children” walk in the truth, by passionately living out God’s Word daily.
I can recall often standing before our students at the conclusion of a message, after having proclaimed the truth of God’s Word and saying,
“If you want to put a smile on my face, don’t raise my salary. Don’t give me a nicer office. Don’t increase my vacation time…Simply walk in the truth. There is no greater joy.”
