I grew up in a church that was heavy on evangelism and outreach.  And this is a good thing, for the most part.  The salvation message was woven into every single sermon that was preached from the front, and done very well (it takes a special kind of talent to weave the steps to salvation into a homily on, say, the Levitical law regarding beard cutting).  No Sunday morning service that I can remember ever concluded without a public invitation to receive Jesus Christ.  And there were more Sundays than not that at least one person physically made his or her way down the aisle to pray with a pastor to receive salvation.

On the other hand, I also remember a lot of soul-winning guilt trips.  The church was big on door-to-door evangelism and street-witnessing.  (For those unfamiliar with street-witnessing, this is the idea of walking down a busy street and literally accosting passers-by with a Bible and a lecture.  Sometimes it even involved preaching on street corners.)

Those who chose not to participate in such in-your-face evangelism, opting instead for relationship and lifestyle evangelism, were subsequently branded as “unspiritual.”  The message was clear, whether it was said in so many words or not: if you don’t witness to strangers, if you don’t carry a fist full of gospel tracts at all times, if you don’t have the guts to go door-to-door for Jesus, then you must not be a very spiritual Christian.  Maybe you weren’t even a Christian at all.

You might be able to imagine that it only takes a few years of this kind of this kind of ingraining before you start to feel pretty worthless if you happen to fall into the category of “lifestyle evangelist” as opposed to the door-to-door salesman type.  Some of you may have even experienced it yourself.

I happen to be one of those Christians who prefers to evangelize in ways that don’t involve Bible-thumping or peddling Jesus to strangers on street corners.  I was never comfortable with that kind of “soul-winning” and still am not.  (It almost seems ironic for someone who is married to a pastor.)

It took me a lot of years to wrap my mind around the idea that evangelism isn’t always the same as sermonizing strangers on street corners.  Evangelizing is not like selling on commission.  You don’t get points in Heaven for each person that you physically lead to Christ.  There’s not going to be some kind of cosmic medal ceremony in Heaven for The Biggest Soul-Winner.

The truth is: there’s a lot involved in pointing a person to Christ, and usually a decision for salvation is a response to the obedience of a whole string of believers.  While one person may have the privilege of actually praying with an unbeliever to receive Christ, chances are pretty good that there were dozens, maybe hundreds of Christians whose influence played a role in bringing that decision to fruition.

I like to think of it as a hockey game.  (Or, insert your favorite sport here.)  The player who shoots the puck that makes it into the net for a goal often gets the biggest accolades.  But it really took a team of players to get that puck to the one who actually scored the goal.  The players who assist the scorer are just as important as the scorer himself.

I’ve come to believe that this is where I shine.  I like to “assist” in the soul-winning process…. by singing on a worship team, helping to lead songs that might move an unbeliever closer to a life-changing decision.  I’d rather take a non-believing friend out for coffee where a spiritual conversation might naturally develop, one which would pique my friend’s interest in a quest based on what she sees me living out and hears me describe in terms of my own spiritual experiences.  I’m not a soapbox-on-a-street-corner kind of evangelist.

In fact, I’ve come to understand that the ability to lead strangers to salvation is a rare and special gift, one that I’ve seen only a handful of times in my 41 years of life.  Those who are so-gifted do it as naturally as breathing, and do it well.

As for the rest of us, there’s no shame in being the ones who give the “assists.”  The Great Commission asks us only to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded…” (Matthew 28:16-20).  There’s no sales commission; no points for souls won.  Just a command to use the gifts we’ve been given to make a difference in our world for the Kingdom of Heaven.

One of my top ten favorite Bible stories is that of Hannah, mother to Samuel.  I’ve always been fond of it, even as a child, but it came to mean even more to me when I was longing to be a mother.

Like most women in her day, Hannah hoped to become a mother after marrying.  Yet year after year passed and she couldn’t get pregnant.  Her sadness was magnified by the fact that her husband’s second wife conceived over and over again while Hannah remained barren.

Every year during the family’s annual pilgrimage to the temple, Hannah would kneel in the temple and cry out to God to give her a son.  Hannah’s desire to have a baby was so strong, in fact, that she made a promise to God: that if He grant her this one request, she would return the child to Him to be used in His service “all the days of his life” (I Sam. 1:12).

After years of barrenness, God finally granted her longing.  Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son, whom she named Samuel, and whom she adored and cherished.

And, true to her vow, she gave Samuel back to God.  While he was still just a baby, she brought him to the temple where she’d first made her promise and there she left her yearned-for baby to be raised and instructed by the priest in the ways of Jehovah.

Having suffered through one agonizing year of infertility, only to finally get pregnant and then miscarry at five months, I identify deeply with Hannah’s longing and the pain.  I also identify with her joy at finally having her pleas for a child granted.

What I’m not sure of is whether I could make the kind of sacrifice that Hannah made by offering her long-awaited child into another’s keeping, ultimately to be used by God for a very specific purpose.  Nevertheless, I have prayed on numerous occasions since becoming a Mom that God would give me the strength to surrender my children to Him, should He choose for any one of them a course that I myself may not have.

It is a mother’s nature to cling tightly to her children.  Often this is a good thing…. Just think of all the trouble they could get into otherwise!  But if He demands it, I pray that I will be able to loosen my grip, even let go entirely, if God has need of the life of one of my precious children.

I also know that there are many women out there who, like Hannah once did, are still praying for a miracle of their own.  I recognize that Mother’s Day is a painful day for you.  May God grant you the strength to wait on His timing, or the peace to surrender your dreams, and fill your arms by filling your heart.

Ask any church member anywhere if he appreciates his pastor and he’ll probably answer “Of course!”  Ask any pastor if he feels appreciated, and you might get a different answer.

I should preface my next statements by saying that they are purely anecdotal and not based on any hard statistics.   Instead I am basing them on 20 years of ministry experience, and they have certainly rang truthful in the churches my husband and I have been a part of,  as well as for a significant number other pastors and their families whom we’ve crossed paths with over the years.

In my estimation, 90 percent of regular church-goers at any given time and church will say, if asked, that they appreciate their pastor(s) (though they may not be the same 90 percent that responded positively the day before).  Yet 90 percent of the pastors that we’ve spoken to over the years have told us that, overall, they feel unappreciated.   Clearly there’s a breakdown somewhere.

A friend, the daughter of a pastor, recently told me that when she was growing up at home, people in at least one of their congregations used to save their used teabags and give them to her family.  I was flabbergasted.  I’d actually heard of similar stories over the years, but I’d honestly believed that they were all exaggerated.  Who in their right mind would think that they were doing their pastor’s family a favor by giving them used teabags?  But she was dead serious, and I wasn’t sure whether to LOL or cry.

Let me state unequivocally: no one feels appreciated when you give them used teabags.  What they feel is ridiculous, demeaned and marginalized.  I am not afraid to speak for the masses on this one.  I don’t believe that any of my pastor/PW friends would feel appreciated upon receiving such a gift.

Pastors are the only professionals I know whose approval ratings fluctuate more than the President of the United States’.  Unfortunately, church people are sometimes all too quick to turn on their pastors, usually for trivial, selfish personal reasons rather than anything remotely related to a moral error on the part of the pastor.  Pastors and their families overwhelmingly feel that at any given time they are walking on eggshells within the walls of the church.  Most feel guarded at the best of times, knowing all too well that someone they consider to be an ally might turn on them tomorrow.

That’s why regular, genuine, heartfelt, expressed appreciation is so vital to the pastor.  It’s the fuel that keeps him and his family  going in ministry.  Sometimes it’s the only thing that keeps him from resigning.

By the way, the most meaningful kind of appreciation is the type that’s spontaneous.  Not those generic gift baskets that you give to your pastors every Christmas (although I’m not suggesting that you stop this practice).  I’m talking about the kind that is offered without any strings attached, that’s not contrived, or bestowed because it’s a calendar holiday and therefore it’s expected.  Pastors agree that spontaneous appreciation is what helps them to remember why they’ve been called to do what they do.

That’s not to say that you can’t make your appreciation deliberate.  Making it genuine is what really matters.  Here are just eight ways that you can express meaningful appreciation to your pastor:

1) If you think of something nice, SAY IT!  How many times have you found yourself sitting in church, listening to the sermon, and being struck by something the pastor said?  Maybe it sounds like it was written just for you.  Maybe the pastor has been able to shed light on a passage or subject that has helped open your eyes anew.  Maybe you’ve simply been moved by the fervor of the pastor’s presentation.

Instead of just slipping out the door after church, take a minute to seek out the pastor and share those thoughts with him.  Pastors receive an unfortunate amount of sermon criticism.  I guarantee you it will be a welcome change to hear someone verbally expressing appreciation for words well-said.

2) Invite the pastor and his family over for a meal.  This is such a simple thing to do, but it is one of those things that pastors overwhelmingly agree to be most encouraging.  (And who doesn’t enjoy a night off from cooking?)

3) Offer the pastor and his wife/family a special getaway.  Pastors don’t make a lot of money.  (You’re shocked, I know.)  Some, especially those with young kids, can’t even afford to go out for dinner.

There are lots of ways you can help your pastor & family have a special getaway.  Give them gift certificates to a local restaurant.  Offer to babysit their kids so husband and wife can have a date night.  Offer them your RV, cabin or condo for a weekend.  Purchase a family membership for them at the local community center so they can get out and do things together as a family on a regular basis.

4) Write your thoughts down on a thank-you card.  My husband I have thank-you cards from church members that date back 20 years.  There are stacks and stacks of them that we can’t bear to throw away because they are simply so meaningful.  Recording your thoughts and your gratitude is easy and costs very little, but will leave a lasting impression.

5) Remember significant dates in the pastor’s life.  No one forgets Christmas, but most church goers don’t know when their pastor’s birthday or anniversary is.  Make a deliberate effort to find this information, and then acknowledge those significant dates with a special card or phone call.

6) Allow your pastor the time off that he needs to be with his family.  Pastoring is not a 9-5 job.  People get sick and die and have various personal crises at all times of day and night, seven days per week.

That’s why it’s important to let your pastor take some time to himself when needed.  Respect his day off and don’t call him at home in a non-emergency.  Don’t begrudge him an early out from a board meeting so he can catch his child’s soccer game.  He needs these times to maintain balance and to re-fill his spiritual and emotional tank.

7) Pray regularly for your pastor.  Not only that, but actually tell him that you’re praying for him.  Ask him what some of his needs are so that you can pray specifically and deliberately.

8) Acknowledge his accomplishments and milestones.  Do something special to mark things like his years of service, especially those significant ones, like five, ten, fifteen (etc.) years.  Offer a public congratulations when he receives his Master’s degree or Ph.D.  Throw a shower when his wife has a baby.  Pastors love sharing important occasions with those whom he considers to be his spiritual family.

Above all, remember that your gesture doesn’t have to cost anything.  Not everyone’s been financially blessed, but everyone can use words to encourage (I Thes. 5: 11).

PART 3 IN A THREE-PART SERIES: Secret Resistance Tactics That Ministry Leaders Don’t Want You to Know About

Volunteer burnout is a significant problem, both within the church as well as in secular organizations that are largely volunteer-driven.  We’ve all heard the quote that “20 percent of the church people do 80 percent of the work.” Incredibly, a Canadian study confirms what the church has been saying for years, at least when it comes to the community at large: a shockingly small body of volunteers actually carries out most of the volunteer work.  Not only do they do more of the work, but they’re also more likely to commit themselves to multiple volunteer efforts.*

While this was a Canadian study, and there are probably some uniquely Canadian influences, I don’t think it’s a leap to assume that the US has similar statistics.  This study should be eye-opening at least, alarming at worst.  Is it ethical to burn out volunteers in the name of the church, or even in the name of God?  Do church leaders have a responsibility to look beyond their own needs and those of the ministries they oversee and intentionally build measures in to their ministries which would help to prevent volunteer burnout?

That’s a subject for another series.  For now, here are three resistance tactics for you, the average volunteer,  for avoiding the “volun-told” trap in your own life and church:

1) Examine your motives for saying “yes” (or “no”): Saying yes to a request to volunteer, whether it’s a one-time deal or an ongoing responsibility, must be done for the right reason(s).  If you’re hoping for glory, fame or even just a small bit of recognition for your efforts, you’ll be sorely disappointed.  That’s a bad reason to volunteer.  Unless you’re volunteering for more altruistic reasons, you’ll find yourself heading for burnout fast.

The same goes for saying no to a request.  If you’re asked to help drive the junior high youth group to the local ice rink on Friday night because you have a 15-passenger van, saying no because you’d rather stay at home and watch tv might not be the best reason to decline.  God sometimes blesses us with resources with the intention that we share them, especially if we don’t have a good reason NOT to.

2) Ignore the false guilt: You know what I’m talking about…. it’s that heavy feeling in your chest, the super-thump of your heart, the tightening of the throat, the tension headache… all those symptoms that come with saying “no” when someone wants you to volunteer.  Though the symptoms are often all too real, the “guilt” that you feel about saying no is almost always false guilt.

It’s okay, and yes, even desirable, to say no if volunteering is going to jeopardize your priorities.  If you’re like most Christ-followers, that priority list probably goes like this: God, family, work/school…. etc.  If a volunteer job will upset this order on a long-term basis, there is no reason to feel guilty about declining.

By the way, “volunteering at church” is not synonymous with “God” when it comes to the priority list.  What good is it if you’re spending so much time volunteering in a week that you don’t have time to simply be with God in prayer and through the reading of His word?  Set those feelings of guilt aside (even if you’re hyperventilating) and focus on your priorities, and the truth that God never expects more than you’re physically and emotionally capable of giving.

3) Take a spiritual gifts inventory: These are questionaires that can help an individual discover what their spiritual gifts are, and how they can use those gifts to serve others (both in and outside of the church).  I found this to be extremely helpful as I began to question my own abilities and heart for serving.  You can find spiritual gifts inventories online, many for free.  Others may cost a bit, but those that do are usually worth it because you get more comprehensive results and deeper insights that open the door for very personal reflection.

You may very well discover that the reason you suffer heart palpitations before teaching your fifth grade Sunday school class is because you aren’t gifted in the area of teaching.  Take that as a sign, breathe a sigh of relief, and feel good about saying no to future teaching positions.

Still not sure about saying “no”? The next time you’re tempted to volunteer at something you don’t like or aren’t gifted at, ask yourself these questions:

- “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I say no?” Will the entire program fall apart without you?  Probably not.  Even if it did, it’s not because you said “no”.  It’s more likely because of bad planning on the part of the program leader.  You are not responsible for someone else’s lack of planning.

- “Is it really my problem?” It’s one thing to say yes and then just not show up.  It’s another thing to say yes because you’re guilt-tripped by a leader (and yes, church leaders sometimes use this tactic).  Again, a program vacancy isn’t really your fault, and therefore not your problem.

Volunteering, especially within the church, should bring you joy, not rob you of it.  When you’re serving in an area that you are truly gifted for and for which you have a passion, it will GIVE you energy, not suck it out of you.  Try to remember that the next time you’re tempted to single-handedly bake 18 dozen cookies for the church’s after-school outreach program.

* “Bridging the Gap: Enriching the Volunteer Experience to Build a Better Future for Our Communities“.  Volunteer Canada and Carleton University Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development, in partnership with Manulife Canada.

More helpful resources:

Free online spiritual gifts analysis: http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1

“Prevent Volunteer Burnout“: An article by Robert Morgan.

“How to Say ‘No’ to Volunteering” by Sarah Mahoney.  This is an interesting and helpful article written from a secular perspective.

Part 2: Secret Volunteer Recruitment Tactics That Ministry Leaders Don’t Want You to Know About

If you do feel like a fish out of water when you volunteer in certain ministries, perhaps it’s because one of these recruitment tactics was used on you.  Here are some of the ways desperate ministry leaders try to fill vacancies in their programs:

1) The Guilt Trip: “I wouldn’t have asked you, except that you’re the only one who [knows how to run the sound board/has a 7-seater minivan/isn't allergic to industrial epoxy] that’s available tonite.”

2) The Schmooze (a.k.a. Flattery): “You’re such a gifted musician I knew you would be just the person to ask to direct the children’s Easter musical.”

3) The Poor Me: “I don’t know why I have such a hard time finding volunteers for my ministry.  Is it the way I dress?  Do I smell?  I wish it wasn’t so hard for me!”

4) The Bribe: You should do [insert job title here]  so that you can join us for the wrap-up dinner afterward.  All expenses paid!  I hear the food is absolutely divine.”

Sound familiar?  Perhaps that’s why you found yourself surrounded by Kindergarteners in shepherds and wise men and cow costumes trying to direct a musical Christmas pageant even though you can’t sing, don’t play an instrument and have never acted in your life.  Did I mention that you don’t like kids?

You may have fallen prey to one of those highly secret recruitment tactics.  The next time you find yourself getting talked into a ministry opportunity that you’re not gifted for, pull out one of the Secret Resistance Tactics That Ministry Leaders Don’t Want You to Know About…. find out in two weeks in Part 3 of our 3-part series: You’ve Been Volun-told!

Part 1: Volunteer or Volun-told: Are you “shaped” for a particular ministry?

Have you ever found yourself volunteering in a church ministry setting in a role that made you feel like a fish out of water?  Faithful church-goers know how important volunteers are to the success of a church’s ability to sustain its programs and reach out to its community.  But sometimes in our passion to advance the Kingdom, we get end up in roles that we may not be equipped for.

It’s difficult to find hard statistics on how many church-goers across denominational lines in North America serve in some kind of volunteer capacity within their local churches.  Estimates, however, indicate that between 50 and 75 percent of Christians who consider themselves regular church attenders volunteer often within their churches, many on a weekly basis.

Even churches with large bodies of paid staff members rely heavily on volunteers to oversee, run and sustain a majority of their programs and ministries.  If not for these volunteers, most of the programs in local churches across Canada and the US simply could not exist.

Many local church programs. particularly children’s ministries, require scores of volunteers on a weekly basis in order to survive. Subsequently, ministry leaders, particularly those who are paid staff members, are often under enormous pressure to fill volunteer ministry positions with warm bodies.  As someone who has been in one of those leadership positions, I can say from experience that desperate leaders have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves to fill those volunteer gaps.  The more desperate, emergent and immediate the need (such as when a Sunday School teacher calls in sick two hours before church), the stronger and more calculated those tactics can become.

Even as I write this, I realize I may get lambasted by fellow ministry leaders.  (“Are you crazy?  You can’t tell people NOT to volunteer!”)  However, I am deeply passionate about the idea of ministry giftings.  We are all given by God particular skills and talents and these, combined with other factors like our upbringings, life experiences and educations, “shape” us to fill certain kinds of roles in life, including volunteer positions.

Some roles are as natural to us as breathing.  Other roles may come more difficult to us.  That’s because we’re “shaped” in a particular way.  When we find ourselves in roles that we aren’t really shaped for, it’s like trying to push a square block through a round hole.

I’m not saying that we should never take on roles that we don’t feel shaped for.  Sometimes necessity dictates that we must fill such roles under particular circumstances.  (A person who gets faint at the sight of blood probably wouldn’t become a nurse, but would never consider not ministering aid to someone during a medical emergency.)  But as a general rule, it only makes sense to stick to those roles for which we are most qualified.

We all should volunteer in our local churches.  But I’m convinced that not everyone should be a Sunday School teacher, or a youth leader, or a choir member, or a cook for the Saturday morning men’s breakfast.

Back to those desperate ministry leaders…. remember, ministry leaders are under pressure to staff positions.  That’s why they were hired.  They were not necessarily hired for their intuition and ability to discern giftings in people.  They have jobs to do, and will sometimes do whatever it takes to ensure that their programs are appropriately staffed.  That may include some of these secret recruitment tactics which I’ll reveal in part 2 of this three-part series.

CHECK BACK IN TWO WEEKS FOR PART 2 OF “YOU’VE BEEN VOLUN-TOLD: SECRET RECRUITMENT TACTICS THAT CHURCH MINISTRY LEADERS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT.” 

 

 

I recently replaced the lenses in my glasses, but not because my prescription had changed (I’m 41, so I’m sure some macular degeneration is on the horizon).  It was because the anti-glare coating had been stripping away from the lenses for a few years.  The problem had  become so profound that several significant cloudy spots had developed on the surface of the lenses.  It had gotten to the point that it was obstructing my vision, and I was starting to fear that if I didn’t fix the problem I would end up causing an accident while driving.

The first scratch was tiny, hardly noticeable.  A few more tiny scratches followed, and then a few more.  Over the course of three years I got used to seeing through and around those scratches.  An annoyance, but one I thought I could live with to avoid the cost of replacement.

When I finally did get new lenses, I was shocked at the difference: like night and day.  Oncoming cars no longer looked like oversized halos of light.  I suddenly had peripheral vision again.  I could actually see pedestrians entering the crosswalk when I was at a traffic light!  I couldn’t believe I hadn’t actually killed someone while wearing the old lenses.

It reminded me of I Corinthians 13, one of my favorite passages.  In verses 10-12, the apostle Paul is reminding readers that while we are here on earth, we only have half of the story, so to speak.  We simply do not have a full understanding of the person of Jesus Christ, of God the Father, of God the Holy Spirit, of Heaven.  That full understanding will only happen when “that which is perfect is come, [and] that which is in part shall be done away.”

He compares it to “seeing through a glass darkly” (v. 12, KJV).  Paul was probably referring to the idea of looking at a cloudy or broken mirrored piece of glass and seeing only a fuzzy, distorted and partially clear reflection.  It’s also like trying to look through a dirty window pane.

Or, perhaps, like wearing glasses that are covered with scratches, and not being able to view images as they really are.  It gave me a brand new appreciation for the hopelessness that I’m sometimes tempted to succumb to when life seems unfair or unjust.  It was a reminder that one day that dirty glass will be swept clean by the immortal hand of my Savior and Lord and then, and only then, will I have a clear, true picture of God in all His glory and His plan for me and for my fellow believers.

I grew up in the 80′s and 90′s. Consequently, Whitney Houston’s music was central to my formative years.  My favorite Whitney Houston song was, and still is, “The Greatest Love of All.”

I liked it largely for the message that it conveyed about children being the “future.”  However, there was another layer of meaning to that song which, even in my teenage years, I knew was off-base:

Everybody’s searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me

I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I’ll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can’t take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all inside of me
The greatest love of all is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

I wonder if the artist believed these words when she recorded them?  Judging by the lifestyle she went on to live, and the very undignified and lonely way that she passed from this world, it gives me pause to question.  This is the kind of loneliness, self-doubt and even self-loathing that relying on oneself usually produces.

The message the world likes to convey is that true happiness can only be found within, that if you just love yourself enough, you’ll be confident, happy, successful.  Yet the Bible is clear about the state of man’s heart: “The heart is deceitful, above all else, and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)  Does that sound like something that you want to put your confidence in?  Your heart LIES.  (You wouldn’t trust in a person who did nothing but lie to you, right?)  No wonder “looking within” for “the greatest love of all” ultimately ends in heartbreak and destruction.

Houston’s song speaks of seeking a hero, a role model, a mentor, but not finding anyone who measures up to the task.  True, there isn’t a human on the face of the planet who is the perfect “hero,” (which is why the song talks of finding that love inside yourself).

But of course, there is one “hero” who is the perfect role model and mentor.  The Bible is just as clear about this as it is about the condition of the heart.  The “greatest love of all” can be found throughout the whole Bible, from His foreshadowing throughout the Old Testament, to his arrival, sacrifice and ascension in the New Testament.  Few verses sum this love up better than this one: “Greater love has no man than this: to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)  The greatest love of all is Jesus Christ.

 PART 3 OF A 3-PART SERIES

Esther’s calling, as found in the Old Testament book of Esther, is unique in comparison to Jonah’s and the apostle Paul’s.  While Jonah and Paul received direct communications from God, Esther’s calling was more subtle.  Instead of a voice or a light from Heaven, God used a trusted mentor to speak into her life and encourage her to meet her full potential.

 Esther was a young girl, probably a teenager, when Queen Vashti of Persia was banished from her position by King Xerxes for refusing to perform a striptease in front of the King and his drunken co-workers.  After the hangover passed, Xerxes set about to replace Vashti with another Queen of his choosing.

He decided he would hold a province-wide beauty contest, Extreme Makeover, Persia Edition, if you will, and gather all of the hottest virgins in the land together for a mass transformation.  Xerxes sent out his officials to scour the land for lovely ladies to add to his harem.

One such young girl he came across was Esther, a teenager about whom the Old Testament author writes “[Esther] had a lovely figure and was very beautiful” (Esther 2:7).  Esther, an orphan, was being raised by her older cousin, Mordecai, who adopted her when her parents passed away.  Esther and Mordecai also happened to be Jewish.

Mordecai had been a devoted stand-in father to Esther, and when the opportunity arose for her to participate in Xerxes’ extreme makeover, Mordecai, who was not a man of wealth, saw it as the ticket to a better life for Esther than the one he could give her.

Undoubtedly, Mordecai also saw it as a fortuitous political move, though he could not possibly have guessed just how strategic a one it would prove to be.  To protect her interests, as well as to advance the cause of the Jewish nation, Mordecai instructed Esther to keep her Jewish nationality a secret.

And so Esther became a part of the harem, one of many girls who underwent various beauty treatments and etiquette lessons for a full year.  When the girls were finally presented to King Xerxes, Esther “won his favor and approval more than the other virgins” (Esther 2: 17), and so he officially crowned her as his new Queen.

Shortly after Esther’s coronation, her dutiful cousin Mordecai, who continued to check on Esther’s welfare regularly, uncovered a plot to assassinate King Xerxes.  Mordecai reported this to Esther, who in turn sent word to the King.  The King’s life was saved and the would-be murderers were themselves killed as punishment.

The event was recorded by the palace historian and promptly forgotten for several years.  However, it would become very significant later on.

King Xerxes had a trusted palace aid named Haman, to whom lesser nobles and peasants were to bow when in his presence.  Mordecai, however, refused to do so, and this enraged Haman, whom I like to refer to as one of the Bible’s greatest narcissists (though Xerxes himself was not much better).

This audacious act (or non-act, depending on how you look at it) prompted Haman to hatch a sinister and sneaky plot to have Mordecai executed.  And not just Mordecai, but the entire Jewish population of the Kingdom.

Haman managed to write a bill and have the King sign it without the King being fully aware of the total ramifications of this decree. And with this act Mordecai made it law that every Jew in the Kingdom should be exterminated.  Unwittingly on the part of the King, this would also include his Queen.

The story that unfolds is fascinating, and worth your time to read, because it is at this point that Mordecai realizes that this was the event that Esther was put into the palace to influence.  A Jew herself, the extermination law must also apply to her, crown or no crown.  And so Esther, a poor Jewish girl, sets out to undertake several acts of bravery in order to save her people from this act of ethnic cleansing.

Had it not been for Mordecai’s foresight and Esther’s willingness to trust in her cousin, the outcome could have been fatal.  Instead, Esther saved the Jews, and in an ironic turn of events, Mordecai finally received his reward for saving the King from that earlier assassination plot and was given a public parade of honor, while Haman, whose true nature had become evident to King Xerxes throughout the extermination attempt, ended up being executed on the very gallows he’d had built for Mordecai’s execution.

Esther wasn’t just “in the right place at the right time.”  God in His providence used some ordinary, humble servants and a series of well-timed events to accomplish a feat of glory.  Esther was simply his willing servant who, with the encouragement of her wise mentor, went on to hold a place in history.

Just imagine what God might be able to do with us when we allow ourselves to be open to certain opportunities.  We don’t have to be intellectual geniuses or possess wealth or status.  God needs only to put us into a set of circumstances that He allows us to influence and shape to accomplish His will.

If you’re into the whole New Year’s resolution thing, then by now you may be well underway in your effort to make a transformation of some sort in 2012.  And, as long as no one is holding a gun to your head, then you’re most likely making whatever change you’re striving for out of your own free will, much unlike the reluctant transformation of the Old Testament prophet, Jonah.

God rarely holds a gun to anyone’s head to bring about a change.  However, He does have a habit of grabbing hold of us and not letting us rest until He achieves His desired outcome.  Few stories illustrate this point so strongly and unarguably as that of Jonah.

Sometimes we spiritually-enlightened folk like to think of Jonah as rather a self-centered, narcissistic jerk.  However, given the circumstances, I am not sure I myself would have responded any less selfishly than Jonah did when God asked him to go and preach repentance to the city of Ninevah.  Instead of being a dutiful missionary and embracing God’s call on his life, Jonah ran away.  Literally.  He jumped onto a boat and headed across the sea, in the exact opposite direction.

As it happened, Ninevah was an important city in the nation of Assyria.  The Assyrians were sworn enemies of the Israelites, and had carried out numerous heinous acts of war and oppression on the Israelites over the decades.  For this, and for other acts of rebellion, the Lord was planning to destroy the city of Ninevah.

But as is characteristic of God, in an act of mercy he decided to offer the Ninevahites a chance to repent.  This he did by sending Jonah to prophesy to them.

Jonah was quite put out by this, believing that the Assyrians deserved death and annihilation for the misery they’d doled out over the years  They’d shown little mercy to Jonah’s people, and so he felt that no mercy was due them.

It’s comical to think that Jonah believed he could run away from God.  But then, we humans, being the fallen creatures that we are, frequently make efforts to avoid doing some of the things we’re asked by God to do, even those of us who know how powerful He is and how apt He is to get what He wants despite our unwillingness.

God didn’t even allow Jonah to make it to port.  Instead, He sent a terrifying storm that threatened to sink the ship on which Jonah was a passenger.

After a number of futile attempts to keep the ship on an even keel, Jonah realized that he was the reason behind the disturbance.  At least in this he demonstrated some nobility and respect for his fellow man when he asked the captain and his crew to toss him overboard so the storm would abate.  Though they were loathe to, they eventually did as Jonah requested, which immediately dispelled the storm, but turned Jonah into fish food.

Swallowed by a “great fish” (Jonah 1:17), Jonah languished amidst the plankton and seaweed and severed dolphin parts in the belly of the giant fish.  For three days and three nights he sat in darkness, feeling the burn of the great fish’s stomach acid against his skin, crying out to God and, finally, at the lowest of low points, acknowledging the sovereignty of Jehovah.

And so it was then that the fish came to feel he’d eaten something that wasn’t quite agreeable, and he vomited Jonah onto land, where God once more commanded him to go to Ninevah.  This time he had the good sense to listen, and went to deliver the message to the Ninevahites, who immediately upon hearing it, repented of their wickedness and begged God for mercy.  And when God saw “how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”  (Jonah 3:10)

It appears, then, that Jonah’s change of heart may have been based more upon his plight as whale bait rather than an authentic change of heart, because at this point he leaves the city proper and goes and sits in a field to pout.  He still believed that the Ninevahites weren’t worthy of God’s mercy.

As the rest of the book of Jonah unfolds, we see God giving Jonah a vivid, metaphorical object lesson to drive home the point that no one man was more deserving of His mercy than another.  What’s not clear in the book of Jonah is what happened in Jonah’s life after his short missionary/prophet stint.  He may very well have gone on to lead a self-centered life, or he may have learned a valuable eternal lesson.

Either way, God used Jonah, reluctant as He was, to accomplish a very specific task that would ultimately lead to the saving of an entire city.  God will, in fact, use us as He deems necessary, even without our cooperation.  An entire city was spared ultimate doom because of Jonah’s actions, even though his heart doesn’t appear to have been fully in the task God had charged Him with.  Imagine just how much God might use me and you if we were to actually offer ourselves up freely to do His bidding.

Are you being nudged by God to do something that makes you uncomfortable in some way?  Whatever it is, it’s probably better than being digested alive, and certainly worth the reward when you respond in a manner of willingness and total surrender.