Oh, I had to be brave
*You gotta be brave
Oh, I had to be brave
*You gotta be brave
Oh, I had to be brave
*You gotta be brave
Don't seem like no choice to me.
 |
| Not normally visible this is one of many labels Pastors hide behind for fear of success. |
Turning 40 last year and then 41 recently got me to thinking...(mid life crisis?) What am I doing? I am in a great position to really do good things, great things even. Jesus made this promise to his disciples that we would do greater things than he did when he was here in the flesh. So why haven't I done these great things. Martin Luther King Jr. was 39 when he was assassinated. Look at what he was able to accomplish before he was 40. It may seem ludicrous of me to compare myself to MLK and really I am not. However, he realized more of the potential that Jesus said we all have. I am not saying that I am as good as MLK, I am saying that he has raised the bar that we should all strive to exceed. Sure adopting four children and forever changing the course of their life will have an immeasurable impact for generations to come, but I could have done that if I were still a pizza guy. We all rise to the challenges that are before us. With that said, however, the challenges we face are largely our own choosing.
Dr. King could have been complacent; Rachel Corrie could have remained silent; I could have happily raised my two children and been a good maintenance pastor of what ever church the bishop sent me. So here I am in Ludington, Michigan. I've been here for over a year. It is time to submit reports and describe, in numbers, what we have been doing as a congregation for the past year. Did our membership go up or down? What is our average attendance? As long as the numbers look good, I look good. As long as I don't damage the congregation, everything will be okay. Is this the greatness that Jesus called me/us to? I think not.
 |
| Time to drop our excuses at the foot of the cross. |
There is a hunger for something more. I want to be a part of something that has meaning. God has called me to this place at this time. My task is to figure out what my purpose is. That purpose will not be discovered by dutifully filling out forms and maintaining the institution. Our purpose is discovered when we are interacting with as many people as we can; loving them; serving them. So what is holing me back? The fact that I haven't been given authority to administer the sacraments outside of my ministry setting? The fact that, because of my particular clergy status, I have no official membership in any church or spiritual community? I tire of my colleagues making excuses for not being faithful servants of Jesus. I tire of hearing about non-cooperative administrative boards. I tire of hearing about a lack of resources and a lack of willingness to reach the unwanted and the marginalized. You are pastors, my brothers and sisters, I am a pastor. The bishop may have laid hands on you and said, "take thou authority" but authority does not come from the bishop or any other human. We have been called by God to do God's will.
"Okay Jon. What would you have me do?" Sorry, I am trying to figure that out for myself right now. I know that time spent in the parsonage, in my study or making the rounds of the shut-ins will not yield anything new. The thing that needs to be done has to be sought after. It has to be tracked down. We have to stand in its path and risk being crushed by it if we want to really make a difference. We have to put ourselves in a position where being brave is the only choice we have. Just like Jesus.
 |
| Julian's baptism |
 |
| Juliana's baptism |
No comments:
Post a Comment