Hungering For God

Recently we had a staff meeting that was pretty impactful for me.  More than anything, it proved to be incredibly clarifying.  I had read this book called The Irresistible Church: 12 Traits of a Church Heaven Applauds by Wayne Cordeiro.  I personally did not find the book revelatory, but as I read it I thought it might provide a great platform for discussion.  I presented the 12 traits in the book to our staff and then we broke into four teams to discuss them.  Each group was given the task of picking the top three traits from the 12 that they thought to be the most important.  Here are the traits they had to choose from:

Trait 1 – Hungers for the Presence of God – desires to be aware of God presence and be filled with God’s presence in moving toward effective ministry. 

Trait 2 – Remembers Who She Is – as the bride of Christ, the church remembers its true identity and lives out of that identity consistently. 

Trait 3 – Lives Heart First – working for God with true passion—not focusing on image as first importance, but rather, working from the heart toward excellence. 

Trait 4 – Practices Gratefulness – continually gives thanks to God in both the small and big things. 

Trait 5 – Promotes Healthy Relationships – emphasizes unity within the church, the bond of love, and the need to reconcile and forgive when things get messy.

Trait 6 – Is Always Learning – constantly willing to keep learning and applying new things to advancing God’s kingdom.

Trait 7 – Promotes Spiritual Self-Feeding – helps people learn how to feed themselves spiritually—connect with God in a personal way on their own. 

Trait 8 – Connects Everything to a Soul – every ministry initiative in some way is connected to reaching people for Christ—however big or small.

Trait 9 – Chooses to Love – actively loves the surrounding community as the vehicle toward reaching people for Christ.

Trait 10 – Takes Risks – willing to step forward in faith to take on a new kingdom-building initiative despite uncertainty or even opposition. 

Trait 11 – Humbles Itself – remembers who we are in light of who God is. 

Trait 12 – Has a Plan – has earnestly sought God’s guidance, developed a roadmap, and is following that roadmap to move forward. 

After each group had identified their top three, we came back together as a large group to compare and discuss our answers.  What transpired was simply fascinating—not so much because of the diversity of answers, but because of the remarkable unity with regard to one of the answers.  While every group differed with regard to their second and third traits, every group identified the same trait as the most important – trait # 1 – to hunger for the presence of God.  The fact that everyone picked this trait as the most important provided remarkable focus for us.  We were forcefully reminded that if we lose our hunger for God as individuals, as a leadership team, and as a church, we lose everything.  Developing an insatiable crave for God is of the utmost importance for us.    

It is a pivotal moment in the life of an individual to realize that everything life has to offer us ultimately pales in comparison to a true desire for God—a true hunger to know him and experience more of him.  No amount of achievement or accomplishment in life can satiate our thirst for significance.  No amount of notoriety or success can fill the emptiness within us.  You may deny that you sense any emptiness or you may claim that you already feel significant.  But my guess is that you simply aren’t being honest with yourself.  Pause for just a moment and take some honest inventory.  The truth is that nothing can fill the emptiness within you except the presence of God.  Not the new job, not the new house, not the latest technology, not the next relationship, not more money, not more success, not more (fill in the blank).  That stuff may give you a momentary buzz.  But the buzz wears off.  And you know this.  None of that stuff will fill you in the deep places.  Only God can do that for you.  This is why it is so important for us to reach the end of ourselves—to realize that the things that we’ve been chasing in life can’t complete us.  It is a truly great moment when we shift our focus from pursuing things that can’t fill us to the God that can.

On a scale from 1 to 10 what is your current level of desire for God?