Combatting Comparison

Every week I get a ton of ads for Christian ministries and opportunities. Just in the last couple days I've received ads for:

• A children's evangelism project
• A local seminar to help people become emotionally healthy
• Three different events aimed at helping people get engaged in global issues
• A Christian art program
• Seeking volunteers for an underprivileged youth program

As a young pastor, I’m barraged with dozens of ideas about what I ought to do in ministry - about what “God is doing” and how I ought to get involved. There are different training venues and ministry opportunities. Every opportunity presents a different ministry style and emphasis. There are seminars that offer me help on how to preach better, advertise better, organize better, and staff better. Different organizations promote events that promise to help the people in my church find God’s will for their life, gain freedom from emotional torments, straighten out their finances, grow in spiritual insight, fix their marriage, or get engaged with global issues.

They’re all great. But I can’t participate in even a fraction of them.

Honestly, when I see all this wonderful material that other organizations produce, it makes me feel a bit insecure. “Am I really doing what God wants me to?” When I hear stories or see ministries that feel impressive to me, the thought races through my head, “Am I missing it?”

Do you ever feel that insecurity? Like everybody is smarter and slicker than you? It makes me want to back away and not say much. But let's refuse the lies that Comparison offers us. It's just trying to distract us from our primary calling: loving and serving people.

I don't ignore all the ads. That's because I believe God is calling us to be more purposefully engaged with our community. That means I need to have my eyes and heart open for the new directions God will lead us in. Reading Daniel's article "A Cloud Isn't A Crowd" has helped me identify this tension in my life.

When He's leading, I feel a bit scared and challenged, but mostly excited by the new ideas and opportunities that are presented. But when insecurity or comparison are motivating me, I just feel overwhelmed and guilty that I'm "not doing enough."