This week, my pastoral hero, Tom Elliff, spoke to a group of students at Southeastern Seminary. In that presentation, he quoted his dad—a pastor and denominational leader—describing a time in his life when he let the Word become “more his trade than his treasure.” That phrase, followed by Tom’s recognition that leaders who fall often stumble into that trap first, seriously caught my attention. Here are some ways we might recognize when we’re headed more toward “trade” than “treasure”:
- Long gone are the days when the truth that the Bible is God’s Word to us amazed us. I remember my first days as a believer when I devoured the Word because I wanted to hear from God. Some days now, I fear I take this gift for granted.
- We increasingly read the Word only to get ready for our next teaching. It’s not because we want to hear from God; it’s because we have a job to do.
- We would likely not read the Word were it not for necessary preparation to do our job. It pains me to write those words because I know they’re an indictment to so many of us who lead God’s church.
- Reading the Word becomes more a chore than a delight. We do it, but it’s become burdensome, wearying . . . and even boring. It’s a box to check.
- It’s been a long time since we could speak of a moment when God just “grabbed our heart” through the Word. Those moments when study of the Word became life-transforming are now more past tense than present tense.
- We spend little time letting our reading of the Word critique our own lives. Even when we do read the Bible, we don’t let it speak to us personally; we think only in terms of how it might speak to others we lead.
- We have to “muster up” excitement about the Word when we teach its value. We know the right words to say. We know how we, too, should love the Word. It’s just that we have to drum up enthusiasm at times.
- We don’t memorize the Word like we formerly did. Generally, we memorize the Word personally and individually because it matters so much to us. When it’s become only the textbook from which we teach, memorization doesn’t matter as much anymore.
- We just know in our gut that the Word is more “our trade than our treasure.” Sometimes we don’t need one of the other indicators listed above to recognize this problem. We just know its reality, but we don’t do much about it.
Church leader, where do you find yourself between “trade” and “treasure” when you consider the Word?
