Way-back-when. . . in the 1970’s. . . when I was in Junior High youth group, we participated in a “Bigger and Better Party.” This was essentially a scavenger hunt: except you didn’t know what you were ultimately looking for. The end product simply had to be bigger or better. Each team started off with a dollar and was asked to “trade up” by going from door-to-door in the neighborhood. We were instructed to simply knock on the door, and offer to trade the dollar for something bigger or better.
Most neighborhood folks liked playing along with the idea, and dragged out some item from a desk drawer, the kitchen, their attic, or the garage. “How about this?” was usually met with laughter and appreciation by the teens in our group. Then we moved onto the next house. Whatever newly traded item we had received, we put forth in outstretched hands. “Are you willing to trade this for something bigger or better?” And so the game went on. . .
We had a fixed period of time to attempt as many upward-oriented trades as possible. Then we headed back to the church to compare results. I don’t remember which group won, but I do remember several of the traded-for items on display at the end, which included a Mercedes Benz hood ornament, and a large bag of charcoal briquets. One was clearly bigger—but which one was really better?
Image from @soberanes at Unsplash
As a disability ministry leader, do you ever feel like you are caught up in a “Bigger or Better Party?” Do you find yourself comparing the ministry God has given to you with the ministry work of others? Have you ever found yourself longing for your ministry work to be bigger or better? Or, perhaps, both bigger and better? This trap is so incredibly easy to fall into, in the age of social media. We may not even know what is going on in the other churches in our own geographic location, but we have the ability to see the events, programs, and media promotion of countless ministry avenues across the country and even around the globe.
Exposure to new ideas and different avenues of ministry can be a good thing. It can stir our minds to greater creativity in our own context. We can learn new tools to employ. We can explore alternative ways to recruit volunteers. However, this same exposure to the work of other ministries can also stir our hearts to envy.
“Hmmmm. Must be nice to be so well-funded.”
“Wish we had that many volunteers!”
“Why did that church receive that award? We’ve been doing that same thing for 10 years and no one even notices.”
“Wish I could get paid for all the work I do!”
“If our church leadership wasn’t so stingy about building space, we could have the kind of outreach that ABC Baptist has too!”
I think you get the gist.
In his epistle to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul stated this principle: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Col. 3:5).”
Did you catch the seriousness of that last item? Covetousness?
Most of us would nod away at the list as it unfolds through various sexual sins and evil intentions—but then “covetousness, which is idolatry” steps into the same list. I’m not making an argument to make less out of sexual sin or evil intentions—instead, I’m pointing out that we apparently don’t take sins like covetousness seriously enough!
Covetousness can be defined as “the feeling of having a strong desire for the things that other people have.” It is a synonym for the word envy. Paul’s solution to envy—including ministry envy—is to put off and put on. Put to death covetousness and put on Christ-like qualities.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony (Col. 3: 12-14).
Next time you are out perusing ministry pages on Facebook, or surfing the web for helpful information—don’t forget to guard your heart. Keep alert for the rising discontentedness that can lead you to the ministry envy bubbling below the surface. Then name it for what it rightly is: covetousness. Following Paul’s strong language, put to death ministry envy—and instead, put on “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” In other words, as Paul so aptly sums it up: “. . . put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
Do you trust God to establish the work of your hands, as Psalm 90:17 says? Are you willing to embrace that his definition of establishing that work might not always look “bigger or better?” He doesn’t ask us to endlessly pursue creating a trajectory of new projects—each one bigger and better than the one before. He asks us to pursue him—because he has pursued us in Christ. That is why we can, through the power of the Spirit, put off what is destructive—like covetousness—and put it to death. Instead, we can put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. That my friends—the love of God, in Christ—is always bigger and better than anything else!
In addition to Parenting & Disabilities, Steph Hubach is the author of Same Lake, Different Boat: Coming Alongside People Touched by Disability—First Edition (2006), Updated and Revised Version (2020). In collaboration with Lancaster Bible College, Steph produced a Christian Education DVD series based on Same Lake, Different Boat, which is available on YouTube. She has served as a contributing author for the Ministry Essentials Bible, The Dignity and Sanctity of Every Human Life, and Amazing Gifts: Stories of Faith Disability and Inclusion. Steph’s writing has appeared in publications such as ByFaith magazine, Focus on the Family magazine, Covenant magazine, Breakpoint online magazine, and the enCourage blog. Steph currently serves as a Research Fellow in Disability Ministries and as a Visiting Instructor in Educational Ministries with Covenant Theological Seminary.
