Growing My Faith, Not My Platform

I've been reading Jeremiah, and look I'm not without struggles. There's still a temptation for me to fall in love with ministry. Ministry can become my idol. 

The reason why Jeremiah has been so encouraging to me is because of his faithfulness throughout 40 years in the ministry, and he watched his country fall. No one listened to him, but he did what he was supposed to do, which was to speak the words of God. 

Jeremiah 26 which says "Thus, says the Lord. You stand in the court of the Lord's House and speak to everyone." That verse ends with: "do not hold back a word." It’s a reminder that my job is to be faithful and not to build a platform, not to build a certain quantity of followers.

That passage in Jeremiah ends in verse 14 where Jeremiah is finally saying that after the people were persecuting him, he finally says do with me what seems good and right to you. But as for me, I'm going to speak to you all the truth that I'm supposed to.

There's a lot of times, especially when I share my story, that I know I'm supposed to steward my words, and I leave the results to the Lord. For me, the temptation is always to go check out people. Are people celebrating me on social media, or this, or that? Right now, I'm recognizing that this desire to be seen needs to die in me as it died in Jeremiah. 

God's been doing a good work in me to say, "Just go, your job is to be faithful. What happens around you? That's up to me." God's been using the book of Jeremiah to encourage my heart with that truth.

Jeff Parker

Jeff Parker helps guide the pastoral care team at the Watermark Community Church Plano campus, including their re:generation ministry where he gets a front-row seat to the transforming power of Christ.