THE LIGHTHOUSE

There once was a young man who wanted to be a Lighthouse Keeper. After searching for many weeks he found a Lighthouse Keeper who was willing to show him what it took to look after a Lighthouse. As the young man arrived he saw the stone light-house standing on the rocky shore like a giant sentinel. Its glass top shining like a diamond in the morning sun. He leant his bicycle against it's dark grey wall and knocked on the large wooden door. There was no answer. He knocked again, this time a little louder. From deep inside he heard a muffled cry.

"I'm coming. Hold your horses." Came the reply.

After a short time the young could hear the dull thudding of boots on a stone floor. The old wooden door creaked its complaint as it reluctantly opened, and before the young man appeared the Light Keeper. He wore a large oil skin coat and heavy boots. His grey beard sticking out in all directions.

"Don't get many visitors out here. You must be that young man who is interested in being a Light Keeper?" he asked.

"That's right Sir." The young man replied politely.

The Light Keeper opened the door completely and gestured for the young man to enter. He pointed to an old armchair next to a small fire.

"Take a seat son." He instructed.

The young man crossed to a chair on the far side of the room. It smelled musty and a little damp but the fire provided just enough heat so it was comfortable.

"So you want to be a Light Keeper do you?" the old man asked. 

"That's right." The young man said.

"You had any experience with Lighthouses?‟ The old man asked.

"No Sir." The young man replied.

The Light Keeper then began to tell his guest the history of the Lighthouse. How long it had been there, and more importantly why it was there.

"You see young man, this coastline is very rough. In a big storm you can't see far enough ahead to know where you are going. This lighthouse shows the ships at sea where the land is so they can stay clear." The Light Keeper said.

The young listened intently. Every so often he would nod, or gasp at some of the things the Light Keeper had seen.

"Well I guess you would like to see the rest of the Lighthouse wouldnt you?" the Light Keeper finally asked.

"Yes please." The young man answered excitedly.

"This area here is the living quarters. We eat and sleep here."

The Light Keeper struggled out of the chair he was sitting in and moved to the stairs.

"Come on then, follow me." He said and the young man leapt across the room with enthusiastic strides. The Light Keeper led the way up the stairs.

"There are 210 stairs." He announced as they began to climb.

As they passed each of the 8 floors there was a small window in the side of the lighthouse. As they got to each landing the Light Keeper would stop and check that the window was closed tightly.

As he walked up the stairs the Light Keeper ran his hand along the wall.

Finally they stepped up into the Lantern Room. The morning sun had warmed the tiny room to a toasty temperature. The young man stopped. His mouth open as he looked up and down the rugged coastline. Waves crashing on rocks for as far as the eye could see. For several moments he just stood there staring at the ocean.

"Do you ever get tired of looking at this?" he asked finally.

"Nope." The Light Keeper answered.

Then without turning to the old man asked of his guest.

"Well son you've seen the whole place now. Tell me, what part of the lighthouse do you think is the most important?"

Without hesitation the young man answered. "The light of course."

"The light is very important, but to be a good Light Keeper you must take care of the whole house." The Light Keeper said.

"Is that why you checked the windows as you came up." The young man asked.

"Yes." The Light Keeper answered.

The young man looked down at the floor for just a second and then asked. "Excuse me Sir, but why did you run your hands along the wall all the way up?"

"You saw that did you?" the Light Keeper asked.

"Yes Sir." The young man replied.

"I feel the wall for moisture and cracks or gaps in the wall. In a heavy storm the walls get pounded by huge waves. The lighthouse would be pretty useless if the walls collapse. The brightest light is no good lying on the ground." The young man nodded his agreement.

"Take care of the light. Make sure it is clean and shining brightly, but also guard the walls for when the storms come they will protect the light.

MORAL

The same is true of our own lives. We must guard what is truly important.

So, Shine on and guard the walls!

THE END

TO TRUST AGAIN

RE-ENGAGING IN GOD'S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE

SESSION 2  - THE DIAGNOSIS UNIT

 "guard you heart for it is the wellspring of life."

Proverbs 4:23

In this section we will deal with the concepts of what causes damage to the believers heart.

The Types of Casualty

Burnt Out and Discarded

Abused and Mis-used

Assassination & Territorialism

Neglected & Ignored

Friendly Fire

 

Burnt Out and Discarded

Burnout is a specific problem experienced by people who throw everything into what they are doing without taking care of their own well-being.  This comes about sometimes because of our own desires or it can also be because of leaders who have not taken good care of their people.

 Symptoms of this are the following:

·         Lack of enthusiasm

·         Unwillingness to engage in non mandatory events

·         Negative attitude

·         General disinterest

·         Lethargy

There are many others but these are the main ones.  The main thing to remember, when it comes to burnout, is that you must guard yourself. No one knows what you need, in regards to rest and rejuvenation, like you do.  You also know when you are pushing the limits of your abilities or time.

The problems comes in when people who have reached the end of their ability to serve find it difficult to understand why more is required. There is a gap between what they are capable of giving and what is being asked of them.  This tends to bring resentment and a negative attitude towards their leaders for the lack of support and respect they feel. This is when the discarding process takes place.

The main thing to remember is this:

1.      Serve the Lord where he calls you to serves in the manner He tells you to serve.

2.      Your spare time is yours.  You get to decide how you use it. 

3.      Don’t let guilt trips or emotional pleas motivate you to do things you are not supposed to be doing.

4.      Stay within your gifting.  When you agree to do something the person you are serving may well expect you to do as well as they can, even if you have told them you can’t.  By accepting the job, you accept the responsibility to get it done.

5.      You are a slave to Christ, not to man.

You are a child of the most High God remember that.  Which of us would allow someone to treat our children this way?

Abused and Mis-used

Now when we come to the areas of spiritual abuse I am afraid it is not going to be pleasant topic for anyone.  Spiritual abuse is when a leader chooses to ignore his/or her mandate to take care of the flock in favour for the vision they feel the Lord has given them. 

A definition of Spiritual abuse could be phrased as follows:

 

“When those in spiritual authority manipulate, intimidate, and control others out of lust for power, fear of sin or insignificance.”

 

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves

be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Galatians 5:1

 

The context for this verse speaks specifically about some leaders who were requiring specific religious acts to prove their commitment to God.  In this case circumcision. Now in the Post Modern church there are  many misleading doctrines being put forward.  We have once again become enslaved to the next big teaching that comes down to pipe line.

We must guard ourselves towards anything that is contrary to the scriptural instruction given to us by the writers in the new testament.

Mis-use  is where people may be being used outside of the abilities the Lord has given them.  They perhaps have stepped into a position for a season to fill a need but now find themselves locked into a role that does not suit them and they find no joy or fulfilment in it.

Regardless of how good the motivation was at the beginning there will come a time when you will start to resent the fact you are not being used according to your gifting.

Assassination & Territorialism

This is not the physical type of assassination. This speaks directly of the destruction of the character, or standing of a person. It is to our shame as a body that this is happening.  It is specifically when the shepherd turns on one of the sheep and destroys them. The reasons can be varied.

§  Pride (usually motivated by a presumed threat to their own status in the group)

§  Fear of loss of power

§  Sin

§  Personality conflict

 However the outcomes have some alarming similarities. 

§  The person being assassinated is ridiculed or maligned by the leader.

§  False accusations are brought forward and the person who is being accused does not have the opportunity to defend themselves.

§  The accused will usually leave rather than confront.  They do this for several reasons.  Because of their desire not to bring Christ into disrepute they choose not to fight.  Another reason is that that they fear the pain of the process of clearing their name.

 

Neglected & Ignored

In Acts Chapter 6:1 we see the first reference to spiritual neglect.  This is where some parts of the body were not considered in the same way others were.

“In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews^[a] among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. “ Acts 6:1

No matter what situation we may find ourselves in.  As a leader there is no reason to react in ways that we have described above.  Spiritual abuse is present in the body.  We are not meant to be a doormat.  We must serve Christ according to the way his Word says, not man’s interpretation of that word.  This is why Paul instructs us to test everything.

^“19 Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not treat prophecies with contempt ²¹ but test them all; hold on to what is good, ²² reject every kind of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 19 – 22

Friendly Fire

Generally it is the ones closest to us, the ones we have allowed to get close that cause the most harm.  Now this is no reason to withdraw completely from the body.  Like any family our spiritual family has it’s ‘Issues’.  There are some we don’t want to invite to family gatherings specifically because what they might do.

There are some specific reasons though why we are sometimes attacked by our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Tall Poppy Syndrome:

Let’s say you are growing and that you are sharing what God is doing.  Well I am sorry to burst your bubble but not everyone is going to be happy about that.  They are going to try and take you down a notch or too.  Perhaps they think they are being helpful and giving you a dose of reality.  The truth is that we as believers may say we rejoice at others victories and growth, but there are times we resent them as well.

Caught in the Crossfire:

You may get wounded even when you have nothing to do with what is going on.  Perhaps there is a feud or disagreement in the body and you just happened to get caught up in it. No matter what the reason this is something that most people have encountered at some time in their Christian lives.

Witch-hunt's:

There are some people in the body who feel it is their spiritual calling to be the ‘Sherriff’ of the flock.  This maybe because they have been in that church so long they feel a sense of ownership or because they feel they are spiritually superior enough to do the job.  They may not even like the job but they do it anyway.  For these people perfection is not the goal it is the standard. 

Loose lips sink ships (or Churches):   

Gossip is one of those areas that some believers think they have every right to engage in.  They feel it is their responsibility to let people know what they know.  Even if there is little or no truth in what they say.

The old adage “sticks and stone can break my bones but names will never hurt me…” has been used to tell people they are not allowed to feel the pain of unkind words.  They are told by well-meaning friends that they just need to get over it.  Unfortunately these scars are carried for life.  Not on the outside but on the inside. 

 

“the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way..”

Victor Frankl’s – Man’s Search for Meaning

 

"guard you heart for it is the wellspring of life."

Proverbs 4:23

Shalom

David McLachlan