Help me find me

Being Stewards of each other is an imperative of the Gospel. Many of us are drowning in the ignorance of our true nature. Many of us have been blinded by ill considered word and the worst of all, no word at all. We have not been encouraged to see the unique giftedness that lies in us. We have images like movies that replay scenes of our lives that affirm or disproof beliefs we have of ourselves. How true were those words spoken to us those years back, was the person really considerate when they said it, were they saying it out of spite or were they trying to manipulate us. We are often found drowning from the lack of words that are truly spoken to encourage and uplift us. The true word spoken to identify the parts of us that bring life to this world. To name them and claim them is the most powerful thing you can do for yourself and the world. Trevor Hudson quotes in his book ‘Invitations to Abundant life’ from a Gordon Cosby, “We are to call forth the gifts of other people, to set them free, to throw the lifeline to them and be the one who, under God, helps a person discover that for which he or she was created.”

least of all

An important point we need to consider when examining our talents and gifts is that for some they will have gifts that are seemingly small and insignificant in the light of others. There will always be better musicians, better banner makers, better cake bakers, better knitters, better teachers, better leaders, better administrators and so forth. The parable of the talents helps us by making the point that even the less talented can live abundant lives if they recognize the potential of the gift within them, and use it regardless. Some of us live under the misnomer that to be the best is all things. With this comes a price. The temptation of pride, the frustration when one performs lesser than, the loneliness when others feel intimidated to perform with us, and the trappings of fame. In God’s way the lesser talents are the ones most priced. Paul’s analogy of the ‘body’ in Corinthians to describe the different gifts makes it very clear that we cherish those gifts that are less honourable. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

The idiot's guide to ministry - I wish

Yesterday I got the greatest response to my blog that I have ever had before. I didn’t realize that my tone may have been a somewhat moaning and complaining one. I was really responding to the book by Trevor Hudson, who was making the same point in an illustration of his life when strangers came to his church looking for the ‘minister’ and the people searched him out and after a long week and night of ministry he was expected to minister to this man whilst everybody else went home. I however do acknowledge that there was some anger buried in my entry. Thank you for your phone calls and emails, I am doing alright ‘really’, but it is as if a huge gong has been sounded. As one email response said “ Empowerment, empowerment, empowerment, delegation, delegation, delegation.” Thank you, you made my day. I had a good laugh, but realized the importance of the training game. This Sunday I am preaching about being Gospel minister’s – all of us. The process of mobilizing people into their ministries is however not a simple ‘tick’ this column and there you go. Ministry belongs to the world of a persons spiritual maturity, past experience, their natural talents, current circumstances and the level as which the church can train, equip and adequately accommodate different ministries. Your thoughts on the subject are most helpful to me as we draw ourselves closer and closer to the service ordained for us.

Clergy Schizophrenia

A Methodist minister often feels like a neurotic octopus. The expectations on minister’s are often ludicrous and so varied you might be disappointed if your local minister did not sing opera. The impression that the minister is the ‘full-time’ and professional priest gives lay folk the divine opportunity to delegate all tasks seemingly church related onto his or her shoulders. The burnt out minister comes as a shock to congregants who expected a better example of divine representation. Lets be frank, how can you possibly expect a minister to spend one hour on every minute of his sermon as they should do, spend at least one to two hours of prayer each day, put together an order of service that shows musical precision and technological skills that provides creative prayers, and liturgies on glossy projector screens, be a ‘spiritual psychologist’ who has in-depth knowledge of the human soul and has counseling abilities that cover not just one area of expertise but areas such as, before marriage counseling, after marriage counseling, divorce counseling, crisis counseling, grief counseling, family counseling and then he or she is expected to visit every member on a regular basis on a home visitation programme, then there is the expectation that this minister has oodles of time to read theological tomes and have ample time to study their bibles, the next expectation is to insist that your minister is a ‘church growth’ specialist, they must know the principles of growing church’s and how to mobilize an entire congregation into action, the mission of the church is their responsibility too, the lost souls who need to be saved, the social development projects that need to be started, the justice issues that need to be addressed, and then the minister should be good with the elderly and be able to address the teenagers on their level. This is not to mention, being chair of the board, honorary chair of the Woman’s Auxiliary, a member on each committee, being involved in circuit and/or district matters, ecumenical ties with other local churches, etc, etc. The dream church can only be realized when the minister is doing 3 or five of these and the congregation is doing the rest. The greatest challenge is for the congregation to appreciate the work done by lay folk and see themselves as ministers of the Gospel in their own right.