As you can see, I have been a little remiss in posting to this blog. Life races by so quickly at times that suddenly a day, a week or a month has passed by and it stills seems like yesterday. I apologize to you all, but assure you that I am back on more onto a summer routine which is good for me. On a side note, I went up to the Main and Maple Coffeehouse in Nicholasville this evening. My goal was to do some work up there as it helps at times to place myself in a different environment and one that has good coffee, good music and a fabulous ambiance is perfect and they have all of that. Much to my dismay, when I arrived at 7:40 I discovered that they have new summer hours and they were closing at 8:00. All I can say is "BOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I was so ready to spend two or three hours working in that environment, only to be turned away. "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," just in case I wasn't clear the first time. Sadly I watch close to twenty people get turned away in those twenty minutes, so lets pray together that they will go back to normal hours. Okay enough complaining, onto the real post.
My morning started with 30 minutes on the treadmill, something that has become a bit of a habit lately (and the carb nazi says "yeah!"), and afterwards I was sitting down to a hot bowl of oatmeal. It fits my carb goals and it keeps me from getting hungry thirty minutes later, but in addition to my oatmeal I was enjoying some fresh blackberries that were as big as my thumb and so juicy that my beard was starting to resemble the jowls of a Saint Bernard I used to have. Yes, I am going somewhere with this, hang with me a little longer and I promise we will get there. So there I am with juice on my chin and a spoon of oatmeal in my mouth and thoughts running through my head. I would like to tell you that they were deep thoughts but they sounded more like, "I wonder if I can eat a blackberry without getting any seeds stuck in my teeth?" The thought translated to action and when I finished my oatmeal I spent the next few minutes, probably more like ten or fifteen, trying to consume one of these juicy, delicious blackberries without getting seeds stuck in my teeth. I chewed softly without ever biting down fully. FAILED! Seeds in the teeth. I tried biting small pieces off and eating just a little at a time. FAILED! Seeds in the teeth. Then a new thought arose, perhaps I can squish them against the roof of my mouth with my tongue thereby never using my teeth............I tried it and you know what.....................................FAILED! Even though I never chewed, somehow I got seeds stuck in my teeth. I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to eat blackberries without getting seeds stuck in your teeth, but amidst this dilemma I had another thought.
It wasn't really a new thought as I have been struggling with this question about ministry for some time now, but the blackberries were proving to be an illustration to better explain my thought. See my desired outcome with the blackberries was to consume one without getting seeds stuck in my teeth, but no matter how hard I tried, no matter what I tried, I always ended up not achieving my desired outcome. Ministry has been like that lately at Bryantsville. Our desired outcome is to serve people and to share with them the love of Christ, but it seems like no matter how hard we try, no matter what we try we fail to achieve our desired outcome. Apparently ministry is like eating blackberries and the funny thing is just like sometimes you get a sour taste in your mouth from one bad blackberry amidst all of the yummy goodness of the others, the same is true for ministry, sometimes it leaves a sour taste in your mouth.
While I like a good Sour Patch Kid as much as the next guy, I really do not like having a sour taste in my mouth especially when it comes to ministry. The question, aka the sour taste, has been, "what do you want us to do God to serve Your Kingdom in Garrard County?" The answer so far has proved allusive, but I still press on. The one thing that keeps popping into my head is this voice that sounds a lot like one of my old seminary professors asking, "what is your theology of ministry?"
That is a pretty profound question. Is our theology of ministry a "once saved always saved" kind of theology that has us just trying to get people to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and then we move on to the next person? I don't think so. Is our theology of ministry more about justice and service to the poor rather than spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ? On some levels here I have to say, "yes," but more from the point of view in that we are not overtly preaching the Good News, but I believe our joy and loving actions does share the Good News in pretty profound ways. Is our theology of ministry a build it and they will come mentality that constantly tries to get people here rather than going out to them? Partially yes, but equally we do try to go out to community events, to volunteer in the community and help others where they are at.
Is our theology of ministry about what we are doing or is it about what is God doing? My answer here is that lately I am not sure I can tell the difference. As evidence that this question has been plaguing me longer than my morning serving of blackberries I have been reading a book entitled The Resurrection of Ministry. My hope was that in reading it I would find some new ideas and new motivations, but all I am encountering is academia and frustration. I am half way through and I will post a review on this site when I am done, but so far I just get frustrated reading it. The author keeps stating to put Christ in the center and look to see what God is doing and get on board with that rather than doing my own thing. Okay, makes sense, but truth be told I am not sure how to distinguish between what God is doing and what we are doing. I try to center my life in Christ, I spend time in prayer, in reading Scripture and other Christian authors, I spend time with other Christians having spiritual conversations, I earnestly seek God's will for my life and for our church everyday and I desperately want to be on board with what God is doing in Bryantsville; but I am just not sure what that is.
Here is what I know. God's desire is for everyone to be in relationship with Him, for everyone to be happy, healthy and whole, for everyone to have someone they can turn to, for everyone to never feel alone, and for everyone to feel valued, worthy and loved. I know that these things are the will of God. Equally I know that we are to be in cooperation with God when we live our lives and when we go about doing ministry. God does His part supplying the promise, the power and the outcome. We do our part by putting one foot in front of the other, loving Him and all of those around us and trusting Him for the outcome. I also know there are areas of spiritual darkness where sometimes it is hard to hear from God and where we perhaps feel like He isn't there. It is in those places of spiritual darkness that we trust in those first things I stated that we know to engage in ministry. We put one foot in front of the other pursuing the task of making those truths a reality in peoples lives trusting that those are in fact God's will and that He can be trusted for the outcome.
I think that is sort of where we are at BUMC, we are putting one ministry foot in front of the other attempting things that serve people, that lets us love people where they are at, that hopefully makes them feel valued, worthy and loved. Right now it is hard to see the outcome but we continue to trust God. Here is the good news, as I type this at 9:59 p.m. there is not a single blackberry seed in my teeth. My goal this morning was to eat blackberries without getting seeds in my teeth and while it did not happen in the immediate short term, it did happen in the long term. Perhaps one element of our theology of ministry must be a long term trust of God. Realizing that we don't always know the impact we are having and how that will effect people down the road.
So considering my blackberries, here is a start to my "theology of ministry." Ministry for me must be centered in love, human worth, and personal value. It must begin with what God has done in our own lives and then grow out of desire for that to happen to others. It must first and foremost never harm and second do all the good it can. It must be done in the name, power and promise of our Trinitarian God. It must be bold enough to try new things, humble enough to admit when they are not working, passionate enough to attract people to a relationship with Jesus Christ, and enduring enough that it is never a "flash in the pan" but rather something that places itself in the great big story of God. It must be for people, on behalf of God, done in cooperation with what we know is His desire and will.
Pray for us as we undertake this new ministry project for Garrard County.
Your brother in Christ,
Faron
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