As my church grew bigger my heart grew smaller.
You could have heard a pin drop as pastor Denny Wilson shared t
hose thoughts.
We all recall how Solomon taught us to guard our heart. We can develop compelling vision and excellent ministries strategies, but without a broken spirit and a contrite heart we’ll never affectingly act on them.
Denny had built a remarkable ministry at Warsaw Community Church in a small Indiana city of 20,000. His passion for the lost, communication ability, and limitless energy helped grow the church from 200 to 3000 in 13 years. It was a remarkable success story by any measure. So, it seemed he was the perfect speaker to close our conference with a wonderful success story about growing a ministry and guarding ones heart.
However, God had a different plan as he used Denny to impress on us how vulnerable we are when we have success. Here’s a few lessons to learn from Denny’s story:
- As my church grew my identity shifted from Christ to my success.
- As it shifted, my affection for people began to shrink.
- As my affection for people shrunk, I lost the passion for ministry and became depressed and disillusioned.
- To be affective at anything, I’ve learned my heart must be anchored in Christ.
- And, God is sovereign. It’s all His including the success of this ministry.
Thanks Denny for your grace and courage to be open and transparent. Those that follow us are longing for that kind of leadership. WCC is blessed to have a leader like you.
So for those who have joined us here:
What lessons do you think could be added to this list?
We’d love to here your story about guarding your heart.
