Am I warm toward the things of God?
While I know that while my heart is warm toward God, I am having difficulty knowing how to regain warmth towards the church as instituted in America. I once again find myself on the outside looking in, and wondering if the good outweighs the bad. I have nothing in me right now that wants to press past my disillusionment to find out.
As far as I can tell God is fine with leading me in another direction for awhile. I am enjoying being in Seminary, as ironic as that may sound. It has been good to step back from the implementation of the local church, and to retool and study the Bible to get an idea of what Jesus might have had in mind when he came to earth to die for us. I feel very warm toward God, Christians as individuals, the Bible, and all ministries that care for and serve the people of the earth.
But right now it feels weird to say that I can’t get any warmth toward institutions that co-opt techniques from successful corporations to grow numerically, and that water down the gospel in order to become "seeker friendly." It’s weird for me to say that because I sense the Holy Spirit hovering over the church, looking for any opportunity to bring life and blessing, no matter how much of what we do as the church is misguided.
I got a call from a friend who is being asked to disregard the expressed needs of his home fellowship group, and embrace a new program that his pastor is excited about. Those that my friend provides spiritual care for are saying that they just can’t do another program that seeks to grow their church while siphoning their life away. If he doesn’t go along with the program, it seems pretty clear that he will be asked to stop serving those that he now is caring for.
Having said all that, I am very ready and willing to serve in any ministry that has the goal to set people free from things that have held them captive for years, and that cares for those doing the ministry while it serves the broken and needy.
As far as I can tell God is fine with leading me in another direction for awhile. I am enjoying being in Seminary, as ironic as that may sound. It has been good to step back from the implementation of the local church, and to retool and study the Bible to get an idea of what Jesus might have had in mind when he came to earth to die for us. I feel very warm toward God, Christians as individuals, the Bible, and all ministries that care for and serve the people of the earth.
But right now it feels weird to say that I can’t get any warmth toward institutions that co-opt techniques from successful corporations to grow numerically, and that water down the gospel in order to become "seeker friendly." It’s weird for me to say that because I sense the Holy Spirit hovering over the church, looking for any opportunity to bring life and blessing, no matter how much of what we do as the church is misguided.
I got a call from a friend who is being asked to disregard the expressed needs of his home fellowship group, and embrace a new program that his pastor is excited about. Those that my friend provides spiritual care for are saying that they just can’t do another program that seeks to grow their church while siphoning their life away. If he doesn’t go along with the program, it seems pretty clear that he will be asked to stop serving those that he now is caring for.
Having said all that, I am very ready and willing to serve in any ministry that has the goal to set people free from things that have held them captive for years, and that cares for those doing the ministry while it serves the broken and needy.
posted by Ted at 9:05 PM
2 Comments:
what i don't understand is this tension of trust that should exist between leader/pastor and his people, but actually seems non-existent. we have this subtle belief that if you're a leader you know better. i'm ashamed to say i have been guilty of this in the past. i can only hope and pray that my next role as leader includes massive amounts of humility, otherwise i'm sunk!caren
I agree. Massive amounts of humility and the ability to actually care for those already in their care, while having a focus on the things that are important to God, without the baggage of things that aren't.
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