New Direction?

How awesome it must be to blame God for not doing the job you’re being paid to do!

One of the part-time staffers at the church was called in last week for a chat with her supervisor. It seems that she’s been dropping the ball a lot lately. Her excuse? “God has been calling me to go in another direction.”

I worked at a church once as the Director of Drama Ministries. It was a ministry I was passionate about, and even though I served as an unpaid worker, I was faithful and put in a lot of time each week. I logged hundreds of volunteer hours especially around Christmas and Easter.

There were several people on our little drama team—each one with his or her unique strengths and talents. I loved those people.

One of the members of our troupe started dropping the ball. She’d promise to write, then wouldn't complete a draft, or she’d commit to rehearsing a Sunday morning skit then never get around to it. Her excuse? “It must not have been God’s plan since I never got it done.”

That has seriously got to be one of my biggest pet peeves among believers—we blame God for our laziness. Worse—we get away with it! I mean, who’s going to call us on the carpet and challenge our procrastinating ways, especially when it means we’re questioning God?

The church employee who met with her boss last week was able to quit her job AND get a good recommendation. She even got a pat on the back for listening to God’s voice in leading her life! Out in the real world, she’d get fired for not doing her job, and her permanent file would be filled with notes like, “hears voices”, and “thinks God talks to her”. Future employers would be hard-pressed to hire the crazy girl.

Look, of course I believe that God leads us in many and varied ways. I also believe He calls us to be people of the highest character, and He doesn’t want to be used as an excuse for our slothfulness.

Yep, it must be nice to be able to blame one’s bad behavior on “God’s leading”. I believe that when we do that, more often than not, we are slandering the divine and perfect character of the Lord.

Don’t be lazy and self-serving. Get off the pew!