No Good Deed...Goes Unpunished!

When you plant a church, you need the credentials AFAB next

to your name instead of PhD or M.Div., etc. AFAB stands for “Anything For A Buck.”

I did a lot of things when we planted our church. One example was that I drove a limo, mainly to bring executives to major airports in Boston and NY. One day, I took a gentleman who was late getting into my car after I arrived on time to pick him up. He told me he was afraid he would miss his flight out of Newark and I said, “Hold on Sir. We’ll get you there on time!”

I think I set a new land speed record.

I cut, shucked, dived and jived my way through crazy traffic, whizzing around obstacles like a pro running back. When all was “said and done,” I actually got him to the airport early. He thanked me, grabbed his bags, and ran without even a dollar for a tip.

No good deed goes unpunished…

...Or, at least that's what my pastor used to say. As he was training me and preparing me for ordination, he told me many times not to expect rewards or kudos from men. Jesus certainly didn't. As John wrote, "But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man(John 2:24-25 NLT)." He also taught his disciples to give in secret, trusting God to reward openly, etc...

The key to survival in a life of Christian service is to do everything for God, not ultimately for men. Our goal is to please HIM. Even when dealing with the challenges of marriage, we're told to give and serve Jesus through our mate, not to focus on him/her and the positive response we hope to receive (See Eph 5:21, etc).

This focus can't fail...because God never fails to see and ultimately reward his children. People will let us down. God will not. Therefore, serving with the expectation of human disappointment but the expectation of God's blessing is the best balance I know of.

Let's pursue pleasing God...and God alone!

To that end,

Pastor Joel