An Old Penny and a Bag of Burritos
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Tue, May 15, 2007
- Viewed 546
- (42) comments so far
Once a part-time school bus driver and unpaid pastor, Steve was now leading one of the fastest growing churches in America. He had gone from preaching in one sparsely attended service, where you could almost hear crickets chirping in the background, to directing seven packed and rocking worship celebrations each weekend. The number of ushers showing people to their seats far surpassed what would have been the total attendance just a few years ago. You'd think Steve would be pretty content with all of this, but in fact, on the Monday morning this story begins, he was ready to quit.
A gentle voice in the back of his head seemed to be whispering, "What are you doing here, Steve?" Steve wondered what this was about. His ministry seemed to be going extremely well. more people were coming to Christ and being baptized every week. His writing was receiving international recognition. He was getting speaking invitations from churches all over the world. Lately, however, he found himself dreaming of quitting the ministry and doing almost anything else -- even selling used cars was starting to look good.
As he often does when he needs to think, Steve got in his old truck and went for a long drive. Spilling out the troubled contents of his heart to God, Steve expressed how inadequate he felt with the overwhelming needs people were bringing to him as a leader. It wasn't just the couple struggling with their marriages, the ministry team leaders who couldn't seem to get along, or the angry folks blaming him personally for policy decisions that impacted their lives. It was the combined pressure of all the needs of all the broken people who seemed to think he should have all the answers.
"God," Steve prayer, "I don't know what to say to all of them! I've tried to cast the vision you've given me, but let's be honest, Lord -- the people you're sending me are annoying! They just don't listen! And I'm sick of trying to get through to them!"
As Steve calmed down a little from what was for him a farily typical rant, he felt a painful and sobering thought percolating up from somewhere deep in his psirit. With a sigh of self-accusation, he uttered the words that were brewing inside: "Maybe I just don't have a pastor's heart."
All this soul-searching was making Steve a little hungry, so he pulled into a Taco Bell drive-through to get something to eat. In the silence between shouting his order into the microphone and picking up his food, God spoke to Steve. It wasn't an audible voice; it was a nearly imperceptible mental whisper.
"Steve," it said. "Open your door. I have a present for you."
Feeling a little silly, Steve stopped the car and opened his door. Ground into the pavement below was a scarred and tarnished penny. "Gee...thanks..." was the sarcastic thought that went through his head as he dug the practially worthless coin from the soft asphalt. But then God's quiet voice spoke again.
"In the worlds eyes, the people I'm sending you are like this penny. They're flawed, imperfect, and forgotten. Even churches don't see much value in wasting time on them. In some eyes, they may look shabby and worthless, but to me, they are just like you, Steve. They're precious beyond measure!"
Tears streaming down his face, Steve drove home with a penny, a bag of burritos, and a whole new understanding of the incredible value God places on the broken, bothersome, infuriating people we all are.
"It's a funny thing," Steve remarked several weeks after this happened. "Since that Monday morning, as I've been tempted to get angry or blow people off with a few brief words, I'll look down on the ground and find another penny. I now keep a whole stack of them on my desk to remind me of God's generous heart and of the special calling he's placed on my life. I still don't have many answers, but I'm trying hard to pay attention to people and show them God's love by giving them plenty of time to talk. I'm not that good at it yet, but I'm working on becoming a pastor who listens."
Quite a few Monday mornings have come and gone since Steve first told Dave this story. On many of them, though weekend church attendance now approaches 7,000, Steve still loses patience with people and feels like quitting the ministry. But now whenever Steve says, "This is it. I'm really quitting this time!" his wife, Janie, smiles, gives him a hug, and says, "Bring me a bag of burritos on your way home."
Feel like giving up? Feel like quitting? What will it take today to remind you of the great calling God has on your life?
I encourage you to pick up a copy of this new book... I'm really enjoying it so far. Again, it's called "Quick to Listen Leaders".
Any comments?
In the book by Dave Ping and Anne Clippard titled “Quick to Listen Leaders” (from Group Publishing). In the first chapter, Dave and Anne share a great story about their friend Pastor Steve Sjogren… After coming to Cincinnati, Steve spent nearly a year meeting face-to-face with over 2,000 people and inviting them to the first service of the new church he and his wife were planting. On the first Sunday, only twenty-seven people showed up.
Comments
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Kris Hayne on Mon, January 10, 2005
I am at that point of where Steve was,...asking a lot of questions about my place in ministry. It is frustrating! The vision seems so clear to me, but a murkey, dangerous thing to the church. I appreciate the little ways that God parts the curtain of His perspective and reminds us all over again that ministry is people! Big, small, committed, and timid, and very often dysfunctional, but that is who God called me to - people! I am encouraged!
Bernie Dehler on Mon, January 10, 2005
Great story. It’s human nature to get irritated with others, and it’s the love of Christ that always straightens us out.
...Bernie
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/247
Leigh Norman on Mon, January 10, 2005
What a wonderful blessing this story was! So many times we get so caught up in the frustrations of this world that we lose sight of God’s miraculous love! Isn’t it great how he chooses the simple things to remind us?!
Chris Shaffer on Mon, January 10, 2005
Wow! That story brought me to tears. I have felt so discouraged over the past few weeks - maybe months - that I have asked the same questions that Steve found himself asking, which in it’s self has been quite painful. Thank you for sharing this story with us. It has reminded me of the true nature of my assignment and calling.
Chris
M Pitts on Mon, January 10, 2005
As a church staff member, my responsibilities tend to a particular group of humans, mostly children. I especially love the part about value and the penny collection, as I devote much of my encouragement to staffers and remind them of just such a notion. But at the end of the day, I struggle with the assurance that the seeds are being planted well and the ground is being watered…because the growth is sooooooo slow. Thanks for the reminder that our God has perfect provision at the perfect time.
Steve on Mon, January 10, 2005
Wat a wonderful story! If all of us were honest we would echo the same thing as Steve. This is so timely as only God can work because I have been having the same attitude here lately. I have been encouraged this morning to keep on serving and leave the results to God, even though the results are slow.
Julius Olutokun (Pst) on Mon, January 10, 2005
Amazing and soul inspiring story it is. I minister in a rural part of Nigeria, although people are being blessed daily but like Steve, sometimes I feel that my level in all ramifications is more than the status of people in this community. This wonderful piece has blessed my soul and I shall continue to see anyone under my ministry as being precious in God’s sight and should be given serious, undivided and unbridled attention at all times.
Thanks, Pastor Steve, God bless you.
pjle on Mon, January 10, 2005
Once again this passes as the shallow theology our pastors and churches have bought into. Steve (and all of us called into ministry) have to get beyond the the smarmy stories of how God speaks to us through pennies and burritos and instead spend more time in the scriptures and worship to fully understand the cost of discipleship and the call to ministry. Luther saw the injustices of his day and turned to Scripture. Wesley saw the carnality of the church in his day and turned to the scriptures. I’m glad God got through to Steve through the penny and burritos, but I hope our understanding of God’s ways will be deeper than that. This can only happen through a commitment to prayer and the word of God.
Darren on Mon, January 10, 2005
I’m responding to a post by pjle from January 10, 2005 01:29 PM
hey pjle,
lighten up! : )
Steve’s story was full of good theology.
Bert on Mon, January 10, 2005
A question that’s been on my mind - what does it mean to have a pastor’s heart? I guess more specifically - can someone be a teacher of God’s Word in a church setting and not necessarily have a pastor’s heart? Would love to hear from those who are lead teachers maybe working with an exec. pastor. I’ve done the Sr. Pastor thing and teaching the Word was awesome. It was the 101 other responsibilities that did me in. Had me really questioning if ministry was for me. Any thoughts? Thanks! - Bert.
Larry on Mon, January 10, 2005
I agree with Darren that pjle needs to lighten up a little or else read the Gospels where Jesus used items from everyday life to teach theology. He used things like a bush, a well, and even coins. Steve is where all of us have been or will be one day. I appreciate his honesty.
Rich on Mon, January 10, 2005
I liked Steve’s story. Scripture needs to be the foundation of our life and experience, but God also has all of creation (and a few things we’ve congered up) to get His (Scriptural) point across.
I think God still communicates to us. Having ears to hear and hearts to receive and a will to DO something about what we hear is what’s most important. I think that’s what I struggle with most.
Stephen Summers on Mon, January 10, 2005
I too am responding to pjle’s post.
“Smarmy?” That’s a rather harsh judgment.
I’m sure we all know that life in real-world ministry is not neat and clean, like a well-ordered theology. Not all the psalms read like 104, where the world seems right-side up and God is obviously on his throne. Some of the psalms read more like 88, where the world seems upside down and God seems to have gone on vacation. Such psalms are troubling to read when we feel on top of the world. We can skip over them; we can practically deny that the lament psalms exist in the Scriptures. But when we feel the crunch of crisis in our lives and ministries, those psalms begin making a lot more sense, and that’s when I, for one, am glad the psalter includes those psalms of “disorientation”—even if some might dismiss them as being of “shallow theology.”
What I’m seeking to demonstrate is that life/ministry is not always pretty & clean, and even though a well-ordered theology can give order and structure to our perceptions of reality, on this side of eternity it cannot and will not adequately address all the circumstances of life—especially when in personal crisis our “world” seems turned upside down. A commitment to prayer and the Word of God is of course commendable—and it must be our normal way of life, but I would challenge the assertion that these means must be the exclusive path to communion with God. God speaks through a variety of means and media.
And that’s a good thing! When we go through times of crisis, our highly-pressured perceptions can constrict our customary channels of communion with God. So, there are times (demonstrated throughout Scripture) when God stoops to speak to us in ways that fall far below (or pass far beyond) the norms of clean, theological protocol/etiquette. How ‘bout through a donkey? How ‘bout through a baby in a manger?
When I read, then, that God spoke to my brother through a penny, and that he has continued speaking through additional pennies, I am encouraged. I am inspired to imagine an ‘ebenezer’ being slowly erected on his desk as a witness to the grace of God. And I can celebrate—along with Luther and Wesley, who both knew the ups and downs of life and ministry, and who both heard the voice of God through more than just formal prayer and the reading of Scripture—that God still speaks ... even if through pennies.
M.C. on Mon, January 10, 2005
Thank you for sharing that story. I really need to read this story. I am at that point to in ministry too. God knows when we need encouragement in our lives and in the ministry.
Bill Little on Mon, January 10, 2005
Sounds to me like there are a lot of hurt people out there who need to keep something in mind - just like I have to also, we are not just everyday people doing an every day job thing. We have been called by the Lord God of all Creation to be the undershepherd of His Glorious Bride - the Church. God knows how frustrating it can be, just look at the OT and the Hebrew people. He knows we get discouraged, His own Son called the disciples “Oh yea of little faith…” I’m no expert but I know what I do is special and God called me to it. He called a worthless sin filled bum to be His child and His servant. I just hope in my human weakness I don’t screw it up. This is a great forum to let our feelings out. Keep it up and remember -God loves us.
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