ONEMinistry Maxim #1: Stop trying to accomplish kingdom work in your own human strength.
I came up with this maxim while preaching through Colossians 1:28-29. In verse 29 Paul notes, For this reason I labor, striving according to His power which mightily works within me. The proper balance in life and in ministry is maximum human effort (note the holy perspiration Paul puts forth) yet with total reliance on Christ (for apart from Him we can do nothing)!
So many times I find myself trying to accomplish kingdom work in Caleb Kolstad's strength. This pattern of behavior is a perfect recipe for burn out and failure. In God's patience He often allows me to fall flat on my face. Once we are on our backs (or knees) we often cry out to Him for help, which in turn, strengthens us for the task at hand!
The Apostle Paul had come to understand this "maxim" in his own ministry context (note specifically 2 Corinthians 12:8-10).
In short, Paul labored long and hard for the souls of men and women and he agonized in effort to present every believer "mature in Christ" (Col. 1:28). So which is it? "Maximum human effort" or "total reliance on God"? The answer is a both/and not either/or with the emphasis resting on total reliance on Him. Christ in us and with us for the glory of God.
Paul brought these twin truths together in 1 Corinthians 15:10. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
John Calvin put it like this, "We attribute more to our own strength than we ought to do. The consequence is, that they who can do nothing venture to attempt everything, without imploring the assistance of God."
