By Kerri Weems

One of the things we have to guard against as spiritual leaders is letting our relationship with God become a job that we have to do, rather than a relationship that we want to nurture. For everyone in ministry — from lead pastors to lay leaders — the lines between “job” and “relationship” can quickly become blurry. It’s easy to just keep doing what is expected of you without realizing that you are becoming cold in heart.

Honestly, this has happened to me many times throughout my 25 years of church leadership. There have been some Sundays (and Saturdays and Wednesdays) that I find myself participating on the outside — nodding along to the message and  raising my hands in worship — but on the inside, I am as disconnected as I can be. I am going through the motions, but my heart isn’t in it. I find myself distracted and restless, and maybe even a little discouraged. But I plow on, because, well, serving God is my job! When that thought enters my head, I know it’s time to do some soul searching.

Personally, I know I am getting close to the “God is my job” mindset, when:

• I find myself mindlessly going through the motions during service, but my mind is in a different place (making my to do list, planning my calendar, reading twitter on the front row when I’m supposed to be following along in YouVersion).
• I lose my interest in meeting new people.
• I want to come as late as I can and leave as early as I can after service.
• I start seeing actual ministry as an interruption to the tasks I need to get done.
• I enjoy video announcements more than worship.
• I listen to the sermon for other people rather than for myself.
• I get picky about the song list.
• I focus more on how the service is being done than on the presence of God.

Serving God should never become a job to us. As spiritual leaders, we must to fight every day to keep the fire of God alive in our hearts. When I find myself slipping into a “God is my job” attitude, this is what I do to get back on track:

• Do a health check:
• Am I being consistent in my spiritual disciplines? (Prayer, bible study, giving, and periodic fasting)
• Am I guarding the gateways to my soul? (My eyes and ears — what I watch and listen to has an impact on your attitude)
• Am I practicing thankfulness? (Our default as humans is to be ungrateful and negative. We have to be intentional about cultivating thankfulness and positivity in our minds.)
• Hit the reset button on my identity: Remember this, before you are a pastor, pastor’s wife, church staff, or lay leader, you are first and foremost a child of God. He has entrusted you with responsibility and a calling, but at the end of the day, He still calls you “son” or “daughter.” there is no pretense with God. He sees through all of it, so get real with Him.
• Hit the reset button on my church experience: Even though you may have a service role at church, you still need to be able to experience God’s presence. Whatever opportunity you have to pray, worship, or participate in the service, make it count. Don’t merely go through the motions.

Do you ever slip into the “God is my job” mentality? How to you get back on track?

www.kerriweems.com
www.celebration.org
www.shineinc.org
www.sisterhood.celebration.org 

Kerri Weems is the wife of Stovall Weems who pastors Celebration Church, a dynamic and thriving church in Jacksonville, FL. Kerri is passionate about leading the women of Celebration at a local and international level. In addition to being a gifted pastor, teacher and conference speaker, she produces and hosts Celebration Church’s annual women’s conference, Shine. Every year, the conference reaches hundreds of women from the greater Jacksonville area, throughout the United States and from around the world. In 2011, Shine also expanded to Africa for the very first Shine Zimbabwe.

Kerri has also fostered Celebration Sisterhood, which exists to empower women to be compassionate, courageous, and free. Sisterhood places value on womanhood at every stage of life. Through weekly Bible studies, monthly Sisterhood meetings and teachings on her blog, Sisterhood reaches across the scope of Celebration’s multiple campuses.

Celebration Church is a global and diverse church that reaches people from all walks of life. Since it began with just 7 people in 1998, the church has grown to 10 campuses in both the United States and abroad with over 12,000 people in weekend attendance at all of their campuses.
Kerri and Stovall have three children, Kaylan, Stovie, and Annabelle.

Kerri recently wrote “Clueless, 10 things I wish I knew about motherhood before becoming a mom”