Vincent Kwok and I had just finished a band practice and were hungry. (not surprised, right?)
So we headed off to Plaza Singapura for food and as usual I began telling him my ah-peh stories. Somehow the topic turned to my wilderness years, the 2 years I went way out to avoid anything to do with a worship ministry.
And Vincent asked the logical question: Why did I do that?
Simply put, I was in a setting where I HAD to please everybody.
People, verily, I kiddeth thee not. And it was not unspoken rule or unstated assumption. I was explicitly told by my superior that I HAD to please everybody. He said that HE did it and therefore I could do it.
And I accepted that.
And set out to please everybody.
Needless to say, it was a dismal failure. First, I am NOT the sort of person who does that. God didn’t make me that way.
Then as I tried harder and harder to do so and failed, I prayed for God’s help. He didn’t help me. And I got unhappy with him over that. (Yeah, people, I am being very open with you here).
Looking back, it’s funny that I’d even dare to ask God to make me even more of what I am not and blame him when he didn’t. But it wasn’t funny then. And that was how I got burned out, frustrated and bitter with people and God.
Please don’t walk that path.
I wish I remembered this verse during that season. It would have greatly sustained me and kept me from being bothered by the dislike of the minority.
What I have discovered to that the fear of man is very closely linked with the love of money. It makes sense, if you stop and think about it. After all, money is powerful, but it only gives us power over other men. Try using money to bribe an attack dog to leave you alone. Doesn’t work, trust me.
So if you fear man and feel powerless to affect other people, it is very easy to fall into the love of money to try and gain influence over others. It doesn’t happen all the time, but often enough.
Likewise, if you are greedy for money, it’s very easy to feel into the fear of man, because you feel compelled to please your customers (and you start to see everyone as only a customer, rather than a sibling-in-Christ).
So how do we keep ourselves far from this snare? Trust in the LORD and you shall be safe.
If you feel that you MUST please man, and find that you are deeply affected when people dislike you, it means that you have insufficient trust in God. And you can grow to trust God not by beating yourself over the head with it, but by growing to know more about him through his word.
I’m only human, of course I want people to like me. But I want them to like the REAL me, not some fake, sanitized, dismembered, politically correct semblance of me. “Any resemblance to the real JJ is purely coincidental”.
And that is why I am so frank in all my emails and conversations with you people. I am giving you the room to decide if you like the real me or not. And if you don’t, well, I’d rather you dislike the real me rather than like a fake me. Get it?
Why did he say that? Because the gospel of God permeated his whole life, affecting him in all he did, said and thought. Therefore it was impossible for Paul to impart the gospel without imparting the rest of his life too.
And likewise for me. I cannot divorce what I teach you about worship from the rest of my life, so it becomes such that like Paul I’ll impart worship to you together with my own life as well.
Yeah, it makes me vulnerable. Like it did for Paul. It leaves me open for rejection. Like it did for Paul. It doesn’t make business sense, because I am reducing the potential customers I can have because there’s more room for people to be offended or dislike me.
But it’s how God has made me to minister to you. It’s one of those things that I am here to do, to say things that need to be said.
Ok, I’ve gone on long enough about how I got burned out and into the wilderness. Next time I’ll share about how God brought me out. Stay tuned!
Prayer time: Looking at this issue made me realize how much I have been blessed by you, by the love and acceptance you people have shown me. I thank God for you people. You have been a blessing to me. Thank you!
Pray for me that I will continue to trust in God and be kept from the fear of man, so that I will not be tempted to compromise on the message God has entrusted to me for you. Thanks!
So we headed off to Plaza Singapura for food and as usual I began telling him my ah-peh stories. Somehow the topic turned to my wilderness years, the 2 years I went way out to avoid anything to do with a worship ministry.
And Vincent asked the logical question: Why did I do that?
Simply put, I was in a setting where I HAD to please everybody.
People, verily, I kiddeth thee not. And it was not unspoken rule or unstated assumption. I was explicitly told by my superior that I HAD to please everybody. He said that HE did it and therefore I could do it.
And I accepted that.
And set out to please everybody.
Needless to say, it was a dismal failure. First, I am NOT the sort of person who does that. God didn’t make me that way.
Then as I tried harder and harder to do so and failed, I prayed for God’s help. He didn’t help me. And I got unhappy with him over that. (Yeah, people, I am being very open with you here).
Looking back, it’s funny that I’d even dare to ask God to make me even more of what I am not and blame him when he didn’t. But it wasn’t funny then. And that was how I got burned out, frustrated and bitter with people and God.
Please don’t walk that path.
“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.” (Proverbs 29:25, NKJV)
I wish I remembered this verse during that season. It would have greatly sustained me and kept me from being bothered by the dislike of the minority.
1 Timothy 6:9 “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare…” (NKJV)
What I have discovered to that the fear of man is very closely linked with the love of money. It makes sense, if you stop and think about it. After all, money is powerful, but it only gives us power over other men. Try using money to bribe an attack dog to leave you alone. Doesn’t work, trust me.
So if you fear man and feel powerless to affect other people, it is very easy to fall into the love of money to try and gain influence over others. It doesn’t happen all the time, but often enough.
Likewise, if you are greedy for money, it’s very easy to feel into the fear of man, because you feel compelled to please your customers (and you start to see everyone as only a customer, rather than a sibling-in-Christ).
So how do we keep ourselves far from this snare? Trust in the LORD and you shall be safe.
If you feel that you MUST please man, and find that you are deeply affected when people dislike you, it means that you have insufficient trust in God. And you can grow to trust God not by beating yourself over the head with it, but by growing to know more about him through his word.
Psalm 9:10 “…those who know Your Name will put their trust in You, for You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.” (NKJV)Now you people know that I am not talking about being rude and offensive to other people. I am talking about what happens within you when you face rejection or when people dislike you. I am talking about what happens when you gotta address an issue and you are tempted to compromise or ignore the issue because you are afraid that people won’t like you after that. (like me talking about worship conferences and seminars)
“The LORD is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6, NKJV)
I’m only human, of course I want people to like me. But I want them to like the REAL me, not some fake, sanitized, dismembered, politically correct semblance of me. “Any resemblance to the real JJ is purely coincidental”.
And that is why I am so frank in all my emails and conversations with you people. I am giving you the room to decide if you like the real me or not. And if you don’t, well, I’d rather you dislike the real me rather than like a fake me. Get it?
Paul said “… we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives…” (1 Thessalonians 2:8, NKJV)
Why did he say that? Because the gospel of God permeated his whole life, affecting him in all he did, said and thought. Therefore it was impossible for Paul to impart the gospel without imparting the rest of his life too.
And likewise for me. I cannot divorce what I teach you about worship from the rest of my life, so it becomes such that like Paul I’ll impart worship to you together with my own life as well.
Yeah, it makes me vulnerable. Like it did for Paul. It leaves me open for rejection. Like it did for Paul. It doesn’t make business sense, because I am reducing the potential customers I can have because there’s more room for people to be offended or dislike me.
But it’s how God has made me to minister to you. It’s one of those things that I am here to do, to say things that need to be said.
Ok, I’ve gone on long enough about how I got burned out and into the wilderness. Next time I’ll share about how God brought me out. Stay tuned!
Prayer time: Looking at this issue made me realize how much I have been blessed by you, by the love and acceptance you people have shown me. I thank God for you people. You have been a blessing to me. Thank you!
Pray for me that I will continue to trust in God and be kept from the fear of man, so that I will not be tempted to compromise on the message God has entrusted to me for you. Thanks!
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