An opportunity on the horizon nearly always coincides with opposition.

Opposition is diverse and relentless and, if given all of your time, deadly. Perspective dies as the opposition blurs our vision. Hope can die as the opposition becomes weightier than the opportunity. Fatigue can kill you if you spend more time running from the opposition than pursuing the opportunity.

By opposition I don’t mean some nebulous “bad guy” that doesn’t like what you’re trying to do. I’m referring to the long list of things that battle contrary to our opportunities.

Danger…Danger…Danger

Take the Apostle Paul for instance. His life and ministry were filled with opportunities to preach the gospel, plant churches, and lead people to Jesus. What sort of opposition did he face? He lists a few in 2 Corinthians 11:24–28:

• Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Repent and Trust

Not many people have a comparable resume, but nevertheless there are true costs associated with pursuing the opportunities to which Jesus calls us. The costs are inevitable, and this isn’t an excuse to avoid opportunity, rather a call to discern and choose wisely what to pursue.

When our sin is the opposition, we need to be quick to repent. When the opposition is external, we need to trust God and proceed boldly.

"Be Strong in the Lord"

Jesus opens up significant opportunities to preach the gospel and glorify him. Be wise and be ready. Expect opposition, but don’t be afraid. “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Eph. 6:10).

Jamie Munson is the Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. You can connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

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Every opportunity comes with opposition, and we must rely on God’s wisdom to proceed with any opportunity. This involves a careful examination of time and energy, which begs the question: Do you know your priorities?

Yes vs. No

Many of us wrestle with people-pleasing and a reluctance to say “no,” but sometimes it’s the only possible answer.

If you say yes to everything, you will spread yourself thin and perhaps miss truly beneficial opportunities while fulfilling less meaningful requests. You’ll see better opportunities come and go; with no margin available you’ll be trapped by foolish commitments.

On the other hand, if you don’t know your priorities you may never confidently commit to the work God’s called you to, out of fear that a better opportunity may come along. In other words, inaction and action can both be sinful.

Prepare Yourself for Action

Aligning your decision-making with a set of pre-determined priorities is critical. If your priorities aren’t defined up front, then when the opportunities come you’ll respond hastily—usually adding another plate to the pile.

“Yes” is the right decision sometimes, but how do you know? For starters, consider whether or not the opportunity compromises or enhances your priorities.

These Are Your Priorities

In its simplest form, the Christian’s priority list is:

1. Jesus
2. Spouse (if applicable)
3. Children (if applicable)
4. Ministry/Vocation

If you clarify your priorities ahead of time, you’ll be able to reject empty opportunities much faster and consider helpful opportunities more wisely. You may not do as much, but you will do it better.

Jamie Munson is the Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. You can connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

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Pastors are called to love, serve, and lead through the opportunities that lay in front of us. With so many paths to choose—and with opposition at every turn—every day becomes a complicated exercise in wisdom and discernment.


Go Ask God


Overwhelmed with the never-ending list of things I could do, I find myself often praying Solomon’s words in 1 Kings 3:8–10:

And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?

And also James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives 
generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”


Be Desperate


If a ministry leader—or any Christian, for that matter—doesn’t find themselves in desperate 
need of God’s wisdom and discernment, I’d be really concerned. No human can wade through the opportunities in front of him or her without God’s wisdom. When we try, that’s usually when our proud hearts fall.

What Would Jesus Not Do?

When reading the Gospels I’m stunned at Jesus’ ability to listen to the Holy Spirit and wisely and perfectly say “no” to some needs and “yes” to others.

For instance, in Luke 4:42-44, Jesus clearly understands his call and the need to continue moving and preaching throughout all of Judea. He could have stayed there in Capernaum, set up shop, and spent the rest of his ministry helping and healing those who came to him. But he didn’t. Through wisdom he said “no” despite a long line of needy people pursuing him.

How desperately we need the same attentive heart to the Holy Spirit’s leading and the wisdom to say no when that’s the right answer, even though it may ruffle some feathers.

Jamie Munson is the Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. You can connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

Religion Saves

Pastor Mark answers the top nine most-asked questions in Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions. Find out more.

One of the most difficult aspects of my work as a pastor is wading through the vast amount of ministry opportunities that seem to be never-ending.

Opportunity Is Everywhere

For church leaders, every day brings a barrage of ideas and decisions related to potential opportunities. They come from everywhere: God, the Bible, church staff, Sunday services, a restful vacation, the congregation, the web, the news, a walk down the street, and on and on.

I’ve found that every opportunity is fraught with some form of opposition.


Opportunity and Opposition


You don’t have to get far into the Bible to see the tension between opportunity and opposition. Our forefather Adam is created and given an enormous opportunity from God: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28).

Those with an entrepreneurial bent get pretty excited when reading about an opportunity of such grandiose potential—being the first to inhabit the entire earth. Read a little further, however, and the opposition is readily apparent. In this case Adam and Eve are opposed and tempted by Satan, and they’re also opposed by their sinful desire to be like God, knowing good and evil.

Of course, our first parents do sin, and all future opportunities are forever changed by the curse upon humanity. For the man specifically, his work to “fill the earth and subdue it” is a lot harder now that the earth is at war against him, broken and fallen from its luscious garden state.

You Are Cursed

The same call and the same curse that burdened Adam remain in place for all of us, which means that effectively evaluating opportunities is no easy task.

Three key filters can help separate fruitful opportunity from sinful distraction: wisdom, priorities, and cost. I’ll discuss these biblical principles in future posts.

Jamie Munson is the Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. You can connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

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Video, audio, and images from the Advance 09 conference in Raleigh-Durham, NC, June 2009. Find out more.