Editor’s note: This content is based on the video transcript, with minor edits.
I began my pastoral ministry about 10 years ago. I have many things to repent of before God. Those ten years were years of apprenticeship, given me by God. Although I made many mistakes, through it all, he sustained me with his grace. If I could talk to myself from ten years ago, I would say three things.
First: try things! Don’t be afraid of failure.
Throughout these years, I have continued to walk forward through repeated failure. But the times I failed are exactly the times when I learned to rely on God’s grace. When I first started church planting and pastoral ministry, I thought methods were enough to accomplish things. But in the end, I realized that, without God’s grace, you have nothing.
The times I failed are exactly the times when I learned to rely on God’s grace.
Again and again, through ten years of ministry, I have learned that you must rely on God, not yourself. Trying things will lead to failures, but God’s grace is sufficient for you. The focus is not on us any longer. The focus is on God.
Chinese culture has a fear of failure. But even so, you still need to try things. Because God’s grace is sufficient for you, don’t be afraid of failing.
Second, pray more.
Every year, we make plans. Sometimes, our church plans for five years at once. But when we evaluated the situation after five years, we discovered that many of the things that happened weren’t actually in the plan. Instead, these things were accomplished unexpectedly through prayer. What’s more, these unexpected things exceeded all we had asked or imagined.
We tend to be very persistent about opinions we think are mature. It takes God a long time to bring us back to the right path from such misguided persistence.
If I could talk to myself from ten years ago, I would tell myself to pray and seek God more. It’s fine to think and plan, but if you follow the guidance God gives us through prayer, it will help you avoid many detours.
We tend to be very persistent about opinions we think are mature. It takes God a long time to bring us back to the right path from such misguided persistence. Praying more means not being too attached to certain plans and ideas, but keeping our hearts open and soft toward the Lord. This is extremely important.
Third, love people, don’t use them.
If we are on a team with others, why do we like certain people? Because they are useful to us. Why don’t we like others? Because they always cause problems.
It’s hard to love everyone, all the co-workers on my team. Instead of loving others, sometimes I want to remove someone just because they disagree with me, or they are too fragile, or because our theological views differ from mine and we can’t easily come to an agreement. Instead [of judging others], I can view them as someone God has placed beside me who dares to tell me the truth. If I can love other people, I can began to understand that my inner problem requires me to stop using other people.
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In the gospel, I am to love everyone and accept the reality of the environment. This has helped my growth tremendously. Although I tend to be dictatorial, real growth happens when you make decisions together with a group of other people. This is very important.
Summing Up
To sum up, my three points are: first, try things! Don’t fear failure, but have courage. Second, pray more. This is a form of trust and of growing in grace. And third, love people, don’t use them. You are meant to build up a large group of people to follow the church planting vision together with you.
Wang Jianguo is the collective pseudonym for a group of Chinese house church pastors thinking and writing about issues related to the spread of Christianity in their nation. They are committed to preaching a grace-centered gospel, developing resources for the church, and loving China’s urban centers.
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