Don’t Mess This Up

I’d flown to California. I was about to speak to a group of pastors and ministry leaders. As I made my way to the front to speak, the organizer whispered something into my ear: “Don’t mess up.”

I remember that as spectacularly unhelpful advice. If anything, it threw me off as I began to speak. I could have used some encouragement or a promise to pray for me as I speak. I wasn’t expecting what he said.

It’s not a great thing to say to someone as they get up to speak, but in many other ways, it’s not bad advice.

Your walk with God? Don’t get fancy. Live close to Jesus. Read his Word. Talk to God about your life. Go to church. Repent and keep repenting. Let people into your life. You don’t have to do advanced things. Just keep doing the basics, and don’t mess up.

Marriage? You don’t need to be the best husband or wife in existence. Just do what Scripture says. Read Ephesians 5:22-31 and 1 Peter 3:1-7 and ask for God’s help in applying your part. Resist the temptation to stray from your marriage vows. Don’t mess up.

Pastoring? Watch your life and doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16). Stay close to Jesus. Love people. Preach the Word. Don’t mess up.

Preaching? Your goal isn’t to preach great sermons. Great sermons can be more about you than about the job God has given you to do. Aim to preach good, biblical sermons. Study the text. Let it master you. Look for Jesus in the passage. Enter the pulpit with a word from God from the text that your people need to hear.

In almost every area of life, your job isn’t to excel. It’s just to guard against messing up the simple things that God has given you to do. It’s staying alert to the temptations and dangers that will draw you away from doing the simple things God means for you to do.

I used to think that a lot of my life would be spent trying to achieve greatness. Now I know that, mostly, life involves discharging the basic duties entrusted to me. Live as a disciple. Keep your marriage vows. Keep your ordination vows if you’ve made them. Watch what commonly trips others up, because those are the same things that will trip you up if you’re not careful. You and I aren’t so special, and Satan isn’t all that creative. We are not ignorant of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). He keeps using the same old tricks because we keep falling for them.

Don’t do it.

Pay careful attention to how you walk (Ephesians 5:15). I picture an egg race, in which people try to win a race while holding an egg on top of a spoon. The first goal is to not drop the egg, because you’re disqualified if you do. The secondary goal is to be quick. But if you’re quick and drop the egg, you’re done.

Don’t drop the egg. Don’t mess this up. There’s more to say than that, but it’s a good place to start. I wouldn’t tell someone this as they were getting up to speak, but otherwise, it’s really good advice.