An Old Penny and a Bag of Burritos
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Tue, May 15, 2007
- Viewed 202
- (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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Todd Rhoades on Wed, January 12, 2005
Thanks, Steve for adding your comments. See, everyone… you never know who’ll be reading your comments. It might even be who the story is about! http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/smile.gif
Todd
Emmett Scholl on Fri, January 14, 2005
Wow! This is the exact morning that I needed to read this article. I’ve been out of “formal” ministry for a while now and have been feeling a calling to start something on my own. The enemy has used my past failures to tell me to give up. But I can’t. There’s too many pennies out there that need saving.
Norman Lawrence on Sat, January 15, 2005
As Pastor of a 130 average attendance church, this story is a real encouragement as well. It seems like there are genuine “barriers” such as 150 and 200, but the Lord has reminded me to simply remain faithful to my calling.
The Lord is the ultimate judge of “success”, and success to Him is that we are faithful… “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”…
RevJeff on Tue, May 15, 2007
Hmmm, for about $2 I have an interesting sermon illustration…
Priceless!
DanielR (a different Daniel) on Tue, May 15, 2007
I loved Steve’s story and whatever someone else thinks is irrelevant because the incident was between Steve and God and it encouraged Steve when he needed it.
I have a story of God sending me a message that I sometimes hesitate to tell because it sounds so goofy when I tell it. A couple of years ago I was very discouraged, the church plant I was helping with was struggling and I wasn’t sure if I should stick with it or look for another place to serve.
Getting on the freeway one afternoon a small piece of Styrofoam, about 3 inches by 3 inches, flew up and hit the antenna on my truck and stuck there. I heard the little thump and looked over and there it was, stuck against my antenna. I thought, “How odd, it’s perfectly balanced there”. And then “Ahh, it’ll fall off in a second”. Several turns and about 23 miles later the freeway turns to highway and there are traffic lights, and the styrofoam was still there. During this time I kept looking over at it and was thinking maybe this was God’s way of telling me to hang in there, but I was also thinking that maybe it impacted so hard that the antenna had cut into it and it was really stuck on there. Then I came to a red light and had to stop and I was thinking “OK, now I’ll see that it really is stuck and that it’s not God telling me anything”, and just as that thought entered my mind I came to a stop and the styrofoam fell from the antenna and fluttered to the ground.
Was it an odd coincidence of physics or God telling me to hang in there? I believe it was God and it encouraged me and I hung in there and continued to serve. And that’s all that really matters because the message wasn’t necessarily for anyone else.
It’s not shallow theology, pjle, it’s not theology at all, it’s just someone struggling and getting encouragement from God. Or perhaps just from an oddly timely coincidence.
millon on Wed, July 04, 2007
Excellent info, I liked it.
TravelBaggo on Sat, September 27, 2008
This page gets an interesting title, reminds me an article—thirteen equals one, which is one of the first articles at the beginning of my English study. The intro of this book seems attractive, the opening tells a dispiriting story, but the following is encouraging, nice.
Rathna on Thu, October 23, 2008
Great story!! Thanks for your encouraging words.I have bookmarked this wonderful story for my husband.Love all.
Mac @ Motorcycle Fairings on Mon, November 24, 2008
How apropiate that the bible encourage us to develop the fruits of the spirit all the time.
amber on Sat, December 06, 2008
this story is absolute bull shit.
Home Decor on Thu, January 08, 2009
Well amber, nobody forced you to read it right? your comment just tell us the kind of “person” that you are.
Jake on Tue, July 07, 2009
Hi all. Never read a book through merely because you have begun it. Help me! Could you help me find sites on the: Mba degree online. I found only this - online mba accreditation. Online mba degree articles from articlesbase. Online mba degree articles from articlesbase. With love :eek:, Jake from Vietnam.
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