{"id":31951,"date":"2022-09-10T15:50:26","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-a-wrestler-turned-evangelist-taught-me-about-ministry\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:50:26","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:50:26","slug":"what-a-wrestler-turned-evangelist-taught-me-about-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-a-wrestler-turned-evangelist-taught-me-about-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"What a Wrestler Turned Evangelist Taught Me About Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Jay Sanders<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the most profound pastoral ministry lessons I\u2019ve ever learned wasn\u2019t in a seminary classroom but in a car. And it didn\u2019t come from a pastoral guru; it came from a professional wrestler.<\/p>\n

During the 80s, Nikita Koloff was the baddest man in professional wrestling. He was big. He was strong. And he was Russian. Well, sort of.<\/p>\n

Nikita\u2019s real name was Nelson Scott Simpson, and he was as American as eating watermelon on the back of a pickup truck. But he looked the part.<\/p>\n

So for me, and millions of others of impressionable youth, Nelson Scott Simpson was a Russian bad guy who wanted to hurt Ric Flair. And I hated him for it.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

A \u201cRussian\u201d Turned Evangelist.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Russian who was really an American eventually left professional wrestling and became an evangelist.<\/p>\n

You can imagine the awkwardness when Nikita came to my town, and it somehow fell on me to be his host and taxi driver over the weekend.<\/p>\n

It was like driving Darth Vader around and finding out he was a Christian and much, much nicer than you thought he was when you were a kid.<\/p>\n

Over those few days, I ate with Nikita. I worked out with him, or really, just watched him work out. I even took him to buy a suit because his luggage got lost.<\/p>\n

It was a great few days. But it\u2019s the words he said to me before getting out of my car for the last time that hit me like a steel chair to the head. And I hope I never forget them.<\/p>\n

You Don\u2019t Have To.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

He was finishing up a story about how early in his ministry he spent so much time on the road it nearly wrecked him and his family. A trusted mentor pulled him aside and shared some wisdom with him.<\/p>\n

It was the same wisdom I needed to hear then as a young man in the ministry who was starting a family of my own. And it\u2019s likely the same wisdom that you could use. Here it is:<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus already died for the church. You don’t have to.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Does that apply to you, pastor? Are you attempting to be what your church already has in Jesus? Do you feel the need to be at every event, take every call, and accept every invitation, regardless of what it does to your family? [epq-quote align=”align-right”]”Jesus already died for the church. You don’t have to.”[\/epq-quote] <\/p>\n

Or perhaps you live under a cloud of self-defeat. It could be that your last sermon wasn\u2019t up to your standards. Maybe you\u2019re failing to measure up to the images you regularly see on social media of successful pastors doing whatever it is that successful pastors do.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
See also  The Group Most Likely to Still Be Missing From Your Church<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

While your friends from seminary are publishing books and starting global organizations, you can\u2019t even find a replacement for the nursery. And so, ever so slowly, you die a new death every week over your church.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something you need to know. It\u2019s simple. You\u2019re not going to be surprised to hear it. You\u2019ve heard it a thousand times. You\u2019ve even preached it. But maybe you haven\u2019t marinated on it as you should.<\/p>\n

Jesus loves you.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

And His love for you isn\u2019t based on how many people downloaded your last sermon or how good a job you do at recruiting volunteers. God\u2019s love is based on His character and Christ\u2019s work, not yours.<\/p>\n

So pastor, perhaps you need to say no to a few requests and spend that time with your family instead.<\/p>\n

Or maybe you need to stop listening to the accusations that come your way from the enemy, the world, or even your flesh about how terrible of a leader you are.<\/p>\n

Whichever category you fall into, you need to remember Jesus already died for the church. You don\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

A Million Different Packages.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Nearly two decades ago, God gave me some life-changing wisdom through an evangelist who used to pretend to be a Russian wrestler.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t doubt His ability to use you to have a similar impact on others.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s unchanging good news comes in a million different packages. Sometimes it\u2019s delivered through former professional wrestlers, sometimes through megachurch pastors with a great delivery, and sometimes through pastors who lead congregations of 15 or 20 people.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s never delivered in vain. Don’t lose heart, pastor. And don’t give in to the temptation to do for the church what Christ has already done.<\/p>\n

He is enough. Rest in him.<\/p>\n

JAY SANDERS (<\/strong>@jaysanders714)<\/strong> is the senior pastor of Towaliga Baptist Church in Jackson, Georgia.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n

The Pastor\u2019s Justification: Applying the Work of Christ in Your Life and Ministry<\/h2>\n

Jared C. Wilson<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Related posts:<\/h3>\n
What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jay Sanders One of the most profound pastoral ministry lessons I\u2019ve ever learned wasn\u2019t in a seminary classroom but in a car. And it didn\u2019t come from a pastoral guru; it came from a professional wrestler. During the 80s, Nikita Koloff was the baddest man in professional wrestling. He was big. He was strong. … Continue reading “What a Wrestler Turned Evangelist Taught Me About Ministry”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31951\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}