humility | pastor ivanildo

Four months ago, when I unexpectedly lost a job I loved dearly, I thought I would never recover what I had lost. It took me months to crystallize my thoughts, but I am finally able to share what I have come to learn about…

Losses and Gains

1. I lost the platform to speak to hundreds weekly but gained the time to speak every day to those few who love me unconditionally.

School of humility’s lesson #1: You can’t save the world if you are not loving on your family.
2. I lost a reliable income but gained the glory of living with integrity all the way to the end.

School of humility’s lesson #2: When mission and money collide, you must let mission always win.

3. I lost the adulation of people but gained the realization that it’s more blessed to receive one good advice than to give many.

School of humility’a lesson #3: Don’t let people come to you when they should be coming to God.

4. I lost the power to make big decisions but gained the discipline to make apparently mundane decisions that have huge consequences to my daily walk with God.

School of humility’s lesson #4: The little things we decide to do when under pressure to retaliate speak much louder than all the decisions you ever made when you seemed to have been loved by everyone.

5. I lost the rush of standing weekly by the bully pulpit but gained the joy of sitting daily at the feet of Jesus.

School of humility’s lesson #5: The most powerful posture is being bent in adoration in the presence of God.

6. I lost the title of “pastor” but gained the function of “shepherd” with people who continue to love me unconditionally.

School of humility’s lesson #6: People who know you will never listen to those who only know about you.

7. I lost the chance to steer a big ship but gained the revelation that the crew was never going to let me ever bring it to its final destination anyway.

School of humility’s lesson #7: There are ships not even God can turn.

Between gains and losses, I lost in the peripheries but gained in the substantive. My losses have humbled me but my gains have made me a better man. I am content.

Now, I am not saying I am “happy.” I have been sad, angry, and felt the weight of humiliation often; but I am content. And do you want to know why? After all these months of quiet suffering, I finally realized it is God’s will for me to suffer. That’s right: God’s school of suffering is in session and for some reason I am the pupil sitting next n the front roll.

Like Job in the Old Testament, I don’t have to know why I was given to suffer. All I need to know is that by God’s grace I have been given the opportunity to suffer a little tiny bit for the sake of Christ. Compared to what my Master had to endure for my sake, what I am going through now is only child’s play, so I am content. Though the suffering is real, I ought not to complain. With time, God will accomplish His purposes in me. I surrender my will to Him.

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade

June 2017

PS.: For those who are praying, we are still in Lititz and I am still looking for a job. We are packing because we must move out of the townhouse where we live due to severe reduction of income. We appreciate your continued prayers.

Escola da Humildade

Há quatro meses atrás, quando eu inesperadamente perdi um emprego que eu amava profundamente, eu pensei que jamais seria capaz de recuperar o que eu havia perdido. Foram meses de reflexão até chegar ao ponto de poder solidificar minhas idéias, mas creio que finalmente posso fazê-lo. Eis aqui o que eu aprendi sobre…

Perdas e Ganhos

1. Eu perdi uma plataforma que me permitia falar à centenas toda semana mas ganhei tempo para falar todo santo dia com aqueles que me amam incondicionalmente.

Escola da humildade. Lição número 1: Você não será capaz de salvar o mundo se não estiver se dedicando a amar a sua família.

2. Eu perdi uma fonte de sustento segura mas ganhei a glória de viver com integridade até o fim.

Escola da humildade. Lição número 2: Quando missão e dinheiro entrarem em rota de colisão, deixe que missão ganhe sempre.

3. Eu perdi a adulação de pessoas mas ganhei o aprendizado de que é mais abençoado receber um bom conselho do que dar muitos.

Escola da humildade. Lição número 3: Não deixe que as pessoas fiquem buscando a você quando elas deveriam estar buscando a Deus.

4. Eu perdi o poder de tomar grandes decisões mas ganhei a disciplina de fazer decisões aparentemente insignificantes que na verdade tem um fator determinante no meu andar com Deus.

Escola da humildade. Lição número 4: As pequenas coisas que decidimos fazer quando estamos debaixo da pressão para que nos vinguemos falam mais alto do que as decisões que fazíamos quando todos ao nosso redor aparentemente nos amavam.

5. Eu perdi a picardia de ficar diante de uma platéia atenta toda semana mas ganhei a alegria de sentar diariamente aos pés de Cristo.

Escola da humildade. Lição número 5: A postura mais poderosa é aquela que nos põe debruçados diante da presença de Deus.

6. Eu perdi o título de “pastor” mas ganhei a função de “guia” p’ra muita gente que continua me amando incondicionalmente.

Escola da humildade. Lição número 6: As pessoas que conhecem você nunca darão ouvidos àquelas que só ouviram falar de você.

7. Eu perdi a oportunidade de capitanear um grande navio mas ganhei o conhecimento de que a tripulação não tinha nenhuma intenção de deixar que eu levasse o barco até o seu destino final.

Escola da humildade. Lição número 7: Há navios que nem Deus pode redirecionar.

Entre perdas e ganhos, eu perdi no que é periférico e ganhei nas coisas substantivas. Minhas perdas me ensinaram humildade e os meus ganhos me ajudaram a crescer como pessoa. Sigo contente.

Notem que eu não estou dizendo que estou “feliz”. Muitas vezes encontro-me triste, com raiva, e sinto o peso da humilhação, mas ainda assim estou contente. E querem saber por que? Depois de vários meses de sofrimento solitário, finalmente dei-me de conta que essa é a vontade de Deus – o meu sofrimento. Isso mesmo. O ano escolar da escola divina do sofrimento abriu-se para mim e eu sou aquele aluno sentado na primeira fileira.

Como já sucedera a Jó no Velho Testamento, eu não preciso saber o porquê do meu sofrer. Eu só preciso saber que pela Sua graca Ele me deu a oportunidade de sofrer um tantinho pela causa de Cristo. Em comparação com o que o meu Mestre suportou por mim, o meu sofrimento é como se fosse passar uma noite num hotel de luxo, e aí está a fonte do meu contentamento. Mesmo que o sofrimento seja real, não me cabe reclamar. Com o tempo, Deus haverá de cumprir o Seus propósitos em mim. Eu entrego minha vontade a Ele.

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade
Junho de 2017

PS.: Peço que continuem orando por nós. Eu ainda estou procurando trabalho. Precisamos nos mudar da casa onde moramos agora até o final de agosto mas não sabemos ainda para onde iremos.

There are some people who just don’t seem to get things right when it comes to sharing matters of faith. They are standoffish. They can’t help but come across as judgmental and the “know-it-all type.” And they always carry that air of superiority about them. In one word, they are obnoxious. This type of behavior is so prevalent in our days that it would do us all a lot of good if we read these words about 10 non-obnoxious ways to share your faith.

I find it amazing that Paul, who nowadays is often accused of being somewhat of a bully because of his strong views, was bold but not brash when it came to his witness. He never ran away from telling the truth, but he did it in a way that drew the listeners in. Paul was a genius when it comes to sharing truth with sensitivity to an often hostile crowd.

Two examples. The first one comes from Acts 17. When Paul was in Athens his heart was stirred by the number of idols he saw in the city. The word in the Greek is very strong. You could say that the multiplicity of idols and shrines in the city upset him. He was more than a little annoyed. He was terribly upset.

But when he had a chance to speak to the people, he didn’t start out by saying, “You bunch of idol-worshipers, worthless idolaters Athenians. How can you believe in the sort of nonsense I saw around your city?” Rather, Paul kept his revolting heart in check and said, “People of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all things.” Really? Then he goes on to use the very fact that they had an altar to an “unknown God” to announce to them that this God they worship without knowing is the true God, the creator of the universe. What a lesson in magnanimity that should be to us!

The second example comes from Acts 14 Paul and Barnabas were in the pagan city of Lystra. While there, Paul healed a man who had been crippled. When the crowd saw this, the people rushed to bow before the apostles, worshiping them, and even attempting to offer some bulls in sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. Being good Jews they were, these two men were outraged. They tore their clothes and started running among the people asking them to stop that nonsense.

When the crowd finally calmed down, instead of engaging in a vituperating speech about how blasphemous their behavior was, when Paul began to speak, the first words out of his mouth were, “Friends, why are you doing these things? We are only human beings like you.” Then he went on to present to them the true God their hearts should go after. Notice, there is not even a hint of superiority in Paul’s opening statement.

The reason Paul could be so kind even in the face of some most egregious religious behavior, I believe, is because the living Christ was living in him. And Paul was interested in presenting the Person of salvation first before he presented the plan of salvation. Paul was displaying the kind of behavior that genuine Christ-followers should show before a world that is skeptical. The plan of salvation without the reality of the Person of salvation living within us is just noise and often that noise is annoying.

Learn how to share the Person of salvation before you present the plan of salvation this Sunday as we continue our series we are calling “Care 2 Share.”

Hope to see you there,

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade

School of Humility/Escola da Humildade

Don’t be an Obnoxious Witness