something to think about part 1
a quote from the radical reformission:
"Self-righteousness has so seeped into American Christianity that being a missionary to one's neighbor is easily overlooked because of the sickness of our faith. How sick are we when the most popular Christian books among American Christians are about how to get blessed by praying a small section of Old Testament Scripture like a pagan mantra, and about the Rapture, as if the goal of the Christian life were to get more junk and leave this trailer park of a planet before God's tornado touches down on all the sinners? Only through repentant eyes will we see that God has a plan, by the power of the gospel of grace, to build a community of transformed people."
posted by pablo
4 comments
4 Comments:
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steve w said...
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steve w said...
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Post a Commentsince samdog posted this on part 2, I will copy it here for anyone that wants to read it:
To comment on part 1... I always think it is funny when I hear people say that they are "in ministry." It seems like being "in ministry" is some people's identity. As if other Christians are not in ministry. Also, being "in ministry" does not mean that you necessarily minister to anyone. It is as if it is their job, or that they "minister" over there at church. These people would feel that when they left church they have done their "job" and now they can go home. Pastors like Steve are examples of ministers who take their work home with them.
Also it seems that some people think that unless the person they would be ministering to does not have some sort of obvious lesser social status or social problem, they will not get as much credit for "ministering." Relating this to "The Gathering" I think it is important to not make that our identity. Or that our identity would be that we are people who are trying to minister, not people who claim to be "ministers." Once a group claims to have an identity, they get comfortable, and they have no more need to try to figure out "who they are." When actually, constantly trying to figure out "who we are" is really, who we are.
and for the record, I agree. this book that i keep quoting from, the radical reformission, is about how to be "on mission" all of the time, and how to be mindful of culture so that christianity is not totally irrelevant. we should all be "in ministry" towards each other. when i wrote about camp, i mentioned that i was ministered to by those high schoolers and college students. ministry has nothing to do with position, leadership titles, or anything else besides a simple mandate from god to love one another.
hey sammy, i wonder if it would be better for me to take my work with me when i gather with the gateway family, rather than bringing it home with me? what if all of our worship and fellowship gatherings were celebrations of what God is constantly doing in and through all of us? what if we all go to give instead of going to get, in the spirit of heb 10:24-25?
sammy,
i don't disagree at all with what you said, and i took what you said about me as a compliment...thank you (actually i was very moved by it). i was just suggesting that rather than seeing me as being different than you or anyone that works any kind of job, what if i looked at myself more like you might look at yourself? (and actually that is how i look at myself. maybe what you say you see in me is a different philosophy of ministry just working itself out in practice.)
so as you are at your job, you are open to ministry opportunities that arise. you're praying for co-workers. you try to be a blessing to them, or have spiritually significant conversations with them. just as you said, you are doing ministry.
i intentionally want to be different than the people you refer to as being "in ministry." my ministry is not primarily what i do on a sunday. neither is yours, or pablo's, or ben's, or anyone else's. all week long all of us are making ourselves available to God, and looking for opportunities help and serve and talk with people. so then when we all get together on sunday, we all come with hearts and lives full of the things God has been doing in each of us and through each of us all week long. and we celebrate together.
so many people act like they have to "go to church on sunday" to get filled up (almost like a tire with a slow leak that has to be filled up once a week).
but if all of us see ourselves on mission and in ministry all week long, and we have experienced God's goodness and seen him use us during the week, then we're already full when we "go to church on sunday." we sing with a heart that is already full. we fellowship with a heart that is already full. we pray with a heart that is already full. does that make sense?
you wouldn't expect me, as a pastor, to "go to church on sunday" to get filled up. you expect me to come already filled and able to give. all i'm saying is that i think that's what hebrews 10:24-25 is saying should be normative for every person "at church" on a sunday.
*the quotes around "go to church" reflects contemporary american christianity. the bible says the people are the church. if you ARE the church, how do you GO to church? you don't. but the church does gather together (which is why i'm jealous of the term the gathering).
let me know if i'm still not making sense, and we can go grab a meal together sometime, and we'll dialogue until you can get me coherent.
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