Tag Archives: Leadership

Loneliness And Friendship In Ministry by Carrie Carter

Sometimes there are questions that simply do not have clear solutions.

As my husband and I neared the end of our first ministry assignment, a woman said to me, “I think if you hadn’t have been in your position of leadership, we could have been good friends.” Even in my late twenties, I didn’t completely comprehend what she was saying. It stung, but we hadn’t been in ministry long enough for me to realize that there was this dance to friendship. That people viewed me differently. That there would be those who would want to cozy up and those who would avoid, as my “could-have-been” friend.

There are books on friendship, books that touch on friendships in ministry, books on loneliness, and large portions of books dedicated to loneliness in ministry. Everyone has a slightly different take depending on personalities, positions, and history, but the one thing they all agree on is this: being in ministry leadership is one of the loneliest places in existence, and friendship within ministry can be difficult to navigate.

So, let’s start with a couple of the easier questions. Why is ministry leadership lonely?

First, there is an invisible burden for those under your care. You not only are constantly evaluating the spiritual health of your particular area of ministry as a whole, but you are also weighed with the spiritual burden for those individuals who make up that ministry. No one else can understand this burden you carry unless they themselves have also traveled that path. It is literally indescribable to the average layperson.

You are the keeper of secrets, the mediator of conflict, a diplomat, a coordinator, and a motivator. You put hours of sweat, tears, prayer, study, and practice into the call God has placed upon your heart. But then, fill-in-the-blank times per week, you also carry out the visible functions of your ministry, whether that is preaching, teaching, singing, administrating, etc.

What is it that people see? Do they see you helping that couple fight to save their marriage? Do they see you guiding family members in mending their broken relationships? Do they see the completed outline of the sermon or lesson that you discard because God is leading you in a different direction? Do they see your heartbreak as a mentee falls back into a previously overcome addiction? Do they see your weariness after coming back from a hospital visit that may have stretched into hours after they are fast asleep?

No. And in an age of performance evaluations, your “performance” is based on your speaking abilities, your pitch and rich tone, and how well you are able to pull in and keep a crowd. All the while, you know that ministry is so much more. Yet how do you explain? There are so many things that must remain unsaid for the sake of integrity. For the sake of wisdom.

It is in this knowing that the dull pain of loneliness resides.

Is the solution to loneliness, friendship? Yes, this would be true for the most part, but we’re adding the variable of ministry here.

Based on what we know of loneliness in ministry, friendship is tricky. Why is this?

Not everyone has your best interests at heart. Some want to sidle close to you in order to be a little nearer to someone in “the know.” Some avoid you in order to sidestep arousing jealousy in others (remember how you felt about the “teacher’s pet”?) Some find those in ministry leadership easy targets on which to project their own toxic behavior.

There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for making friends within a ministry context. All I have to offer is a few observations in the friend-connecting process. (It is not 100% satisfaction guaranteed.)

Know yourself. Do you make friends easily or not? Why or why not? What has worked for you in the past?
Know the relationship dynamics of those within the area in which you minister. Some areas are clannish, where friends outside the extended family aren’t considered necessary. Some areas are more transient, where a single-family unit may not have other family in close proximity. Both bring a unique set of challenges.
Observe. How do the individuals within your sphere of ministry interact with one another? Do they build up or tear down? How do they treat other people? Anyone who gossips to you about someone else will also gossip to someone else about you. This person is not safe. They are not to be trusted.

Once you’ve considered these practices, what now? You’re aware of your own personality, you’re aware of your culture, and you’ve gotten a feel for the overall friend-making atmosphere. Where do you find someone that has “BFF” material?

In ministry leadership. No one understands what you face like another leader. I generally don’t recommend buddying-up to lay leaders, only because it has the potential to put them in a difficult “conflict of interest” situation. In a past ministry position, I did not follow this rule. I had a very close “inner circle” friend whom I knew I could trust to hold my heart in her hand. We went through a challenging season due to her being elected to take a higher position in leadership at the same time my husband was also appointed to a higher position. I did everything within my power to protect her in order to avoid the “conflict of interest” label, and we had to make some serious adjustments in our relationship. Our friendship survived, and today I believe it’s probably stronger than it has ever been. My closest friends are the ones who have also shared the road of ministry.
In “mutual interest” groups. MOPS, story time at the library, and school are just a few. Take a class in a subject you’re interested in and connect with like-minded people. Find a hobby and bond with those who share it. I’ve made life-long bonds with people I met at the dog park.

At work. A lot of times, you’re spending more time with these people than with anyone else. Get to really know one of your co-workers. Go out to lunch. Listen to their story.

There are probably more places that I’m not thinking of. (I purposely left out online groups and social media, because my focus is connecting with someone personally, face-to-face. I have Facebook friends I’ve never met in person, and I treasure those connections. Sometimes, though, there’s nothing that can replace physical presence.)

There are a few things I’ve learned about friendship along the way.

It’s not easy. Friendships need to be nurtured. They need to be cultivated. If you can imagine yourself being the gardener over a lawn of roses, then you get the picture, because when the buds appear and the petals open bright and wide, you know it’s all been worth it.
It can be seasonal. Some friendships weren’t meant to be long-term. Individuals grow apart, the connections fade, and you find yourself going in a different direction. Sometimes, the seasons shift with subtlety, sometimes the seasons end abruptly, without warning. Whether expected or not, self-evaluate, make apologies if necessary, and give yourself the gift of grace.
You will go through “friendless” or lonely stages. This is normal. When I was a mom of completely dependent offspring, regardless of the myriad of kid-friendly programming, it was a lonely stage. I had recently come out of the “college” phase, where my friends and I were available anytime, any day. All of a sudden, our days were filled with diapers, laundry, tears, and Thomas the Tank Engine. If we had free time, we filled it with catching up on our own sleep. We were exhausted. Seventeen years later, I am personally moving through this lonely season again, but I developed deep, rich, friendships in my most recent phase of life that have sustained me regardless of distance.

Speaking of distance…miles do not mean a friendship has to cease. I have friends from the nearest at 310 miles to the other side of the world to the women who have earned their way into my “inner circle.” It’s not easy. Communication is often hit-and-miss; however, these women don’t jump to conclusions, assign motives, or misinterpret silence; rather, they extend grace.

This is it: the nitty-gritty. No clear solutions. Loneliness and friendship have been challenging humanity since the beginning of time.

Scripture is chock-full of verses on loneliness: Genesis 2:18, Deuteronomy 31:6, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 27:10, Psalm 38:9, Psalm 62:8, Isaiah 41:10, Philippians 4:6-7… and more.

It’s also full of stories of friendship: David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, Elijah and Elisha, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Jesus and his 12 disciples (and then his “inner circle” of three)… and more.

I hope this is helpful. What I do know is that Jesus is a friend who will stick closer than your own sibling, and he promises never to abandon you.

So – are you in a time of loneliness or fellowship? Do you have deep friendships or are you afloat, in isolation? Where is God leading you today?

Transformative Mission by Edgar Bazan

The church has always been challenged in maintaining an effective and healthy witness of the faith beyond the walls of its buildings. Every revival throughout the history of the church was started because the fellowship of believers was awakened by the Spirit to witness to their faith in public settings. This movement from the private (or inward) faith behavior to an intentional engagement with the needs and well–being of the secular community is what has kept the church alive, bringing renewal and revival to the body of Christ. Without the public witness of the faith, the church has no purpose other than slowly dying.

This writing aims to start the conversation about what it means to be a missional church. It addresses the theological question of what it means to believe in Jesus and follow his teachings; the end purpose of the mission of the church; and the challenges that the church faces regarding the privatization of the faith. These topics will be presented in a series of six reflections.

Do As I Say

In Luke 6:46 we read, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” Jesus said this to a crowd that was following him, questioning how they were witnessing to their faith. This, indeed, is a hard question that lands with a punch. Jesus was challenging his audience not only to believe in him but also to do what he was teaching them and live in the way he was modeling because by doing what he said, we will find life and wellness for ourselves. Jesus uses an example: those who listen to what he says are like a strong and well-built house, and those who ignore him are like a weak house poorly built on the sand.

This statement reveals that acknowledging Jesus as Lord is not the whole of the gospel – hence the challenging question. These people were claiming to know Jesus but were failing in doing what he was telling them. Evidently, this bothered Jesus, for his mission was not just so we may be saved, believe rightly, or have the right religion, but to show us the way and truth towards the fullness of life through his teachings and doings (Acts 1:1). Jesus is not only concerned about what we believe about him but about what we do with what he has given us.

Do You Know Me?

To grasp the significance of this passage further, consider why Jesus repeated the word “Lord” two times. There is a reason for this within the context of the whole Bible. When the Bible repeats a person’s name it is to imply a sort of intimacy. This is both a cultural and Hebrew language dynamic. Examples of this are found in stories like God speaking to Abraham at Mount Moriah; as Abraham is about to plunge a knife into the breast of Isaac, God says, “Abraham, Abraham.” When God encourages Jacob to take the trip to Egypt in his old age, God says, “Jacob, Jacob.” When Moses was called to free his people: “Moses, Moses.” And when God calls Samuel in the middle of the night, “Samuel, Samuel.” We also have Jesus’ cry of desperation from the cross, “My God, my God.” In each case the names are repeated for intimacy’s sake, strongly implying: “I know you.”

So when Jesus asks the question, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and then do not do what I say?” it seems like maybe he was trying to say, “Why do you act like we are close, why do you pretend to have this deep relationship with me and then do not do what I say?” This was a question for those who claimed to follow Christ yet whose actions showed differently or at least did not go far enough.

From Salvation to Spiritual Formation

This is also reinforced by Jesus choosing the name “Lord” to refer to himself. It is theologically significant. The title “Lord” refers to someone who has dominion, control, and influence over others. For someone to call Jesus “Lord” implies that Jesus has dominion, control, and influence over his or her life; that one has surrendered wholly to him. In other words, the title of Jesus as “Lord” needs to be more than a word on our tongue because calling him “Lord” only and without doing what he says doesn’t make him so in our lives.

This is one of the most critical and consequential lessons for our faith: God is not only concerned about our salvation but also about our formation and wellbeing. Of course, one must confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but then this confession must also be followed by doing what Jesus says. His lordship is not only for confessing what is right but for living rightly. Jesus is basically saying: “You got me right, I am ‘Lord, Lord.’ You believe and confess right. But, come on, now you have to live up to it!” The confessing is for our salvation, but the following is for our formation (sanctification) and accomplishing God’s mission.

One of the main struggles of the church is believing and doing. To talk about the impact of a theology of transformative mission in the life of the church – public and private – is to challenge our understanding of what it means to be in mission not just for the sake of salvation (believing/confessing right) but for the sake of transformation (living/doing right).

It is a critical concept. Many churches seem to be mostly concerned about the salvation of people, and because of this, they struggle to be relevant to the everyday needs of their secular community. One may argue, “but isn’t salvation the most important aspect of our mission?” It is, indeed, but by looking at Jesus, we learn that he was also fully engaged in meeting the needs of all people whether they care about his message or not. What he said and did were one and the same thing. His speech and deeds were congruent.

The question to ask is this: is the church called to be and do more than salvation? In the next post, we will explore the purpose of the church in relation to its mission.

Bibliography

Addison, Steve. Pioneering Movements: Leadership That Multiplies Disciples and Churches. IVP Books, 2015. Kindle.

Branson, Mark and Martinez, Juan F. Churches, Cultures and Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2001. Kindle.

Breen, Mike. Leading Kingdom Movements: The “Everyman” Notebook on How to Change the World. 3DM, 2013. Kindle.

Newbigin, Lesslie. The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission. Revised Ed. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995. Kindle.

Newbigin, Lesslie. Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991. Print.

Okesson, Greg. “Why Public Theology (PPT-Class).” 2017: n. pag. Print.

Seamands, Stephen. Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005. Kindle.

Seamands, Stephen. “Trinity Ministry (PPT-Class).” 2017: n. pag. Print.

Volf, Miroslav. A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good. Brazos Press, 2011. Kindle.

Wright, Chris. The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission. Zondervan, 2010. Kindle.

Leaders in the Bible (Who Happened to Be Women) by Suzanne Nicholson

I recently spoke with a young woman who was thinking about leaving the Christian university she was attending. She was on fire for God and wanted to preach the gospel, but had been told that she couldn’t preach because she was a woman. Although the university where I teach affirms women in all areas of ministry, it’s striking to me how many Christian universities and denominations still maintain a culture of hierarchy. Even though The United Methodist Church has been ordaining women for 60 years (and John Wesley himself licensed Sarah Crosby to preach as far back as 1761), many of the people sitting in our congregations come from different denominations, and some may never have heard a female preacher or seen a woman in a key leadership role. It’s important to help our congregations remember the long history of faithful women who have preached the gospel. For that reason, I offer the following list of just a few of the influential female leaders in biblical literature.

The Daughters of Zelophehad (Num 26:33; 27:1-11; 36:1-12; Josh 17:3-6). Although this story provides one of the more obscure testimonies in Scripture, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah left their mark on the people of Israel. When their father died without a son, the family inheritance was endangered, since women did not have inheritance rights in ancient Hebrew culture. These women boldly appeared before Moses and the leaders of Israel and asked to keep their father’s inheritance. God decreed that “the daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying,” and thus they were responsible for changing inheritance laws in Israel. They saw an injustice and boldly stepped forward to correct it.

Deborah (Judg 4:4-5:31). Both a prophet and a judge — which in this time period meant a charismatic ruler and military leader — Deborah regularly arbitrated disputes among the Israelites. Her role as a leader in Israel is stated as a matter of fact before the story even takes us into the battle that she leads with Barak to defeat the army of the Canaanites. The mighty Barak knows that it will be a difficult battle to face Sisera and his armed chariots, so he refuses to go unless the woman of God comes with him, assuring him that God goes into battle for the Israelites.

The Samaritan Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42). Jesus’s conversation with this woman is the longest dialogue recorded in the Gospels. She picks a theological fight with Jesus about Samaritan and Jewish understandings of the Messiah, but ultimately she recognizes who Jesus is. She then preaches to her whole village that Messiah has arrived — and they believe.

Rahab (Josh 2:1-24; 6:17-25; Matt 1:5; Heb 11:31; Jas 2:25). This crafty, fearless, resourceful woman is willing to betray her own people because she knows that the Israelite God “is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below” (Josh 2:11). She hides the Israelite spies and as a result, saves her family from destruction. Despite her unsavory profession, she is commended on three separate occasions in the NT as a paradigm of faith.

Phoebe (Rom 16:1-2). Paul calls Phoebe a deacon, the same term he uses for himself and others (including Apollos and Epaphras) who preach and teach in the church. She was a wealthy benefactor who carried Paul’s letter to the Romans. As a leader in the church, affirmed by Paul, she had the authority to speak on Paul’s behalf to answer any questions the Romans had in response to his letter.

Priscilla/Prisca (Acts 18:2-3, 18-19, 24-26; Rom 16:3-5; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Tim 4:19). She and her husband, Aquila, served churches in Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome. The two were tentmakers like Paul, and so they worked together on their trade and in the church. Paul calls them coworkers with him in the gospel. Priscilla likely had a higher status in the church than her husband, since her name is listed first more often than her husband’s. They knew the gospel well — so well, in fact, that when the intelligent and persuasive Apollos came to Corinth with an excellent but limited understanding of the gospel, Priscilla and Aquila “explained the way of God to him more accurately” (Acts 18:26).

Ruth (Ruth; Matt 1:5). This foreigner provides a shining example of God’s loving-kindness. After her Judean husband dies, Ruth leaves her home in Moab and travels back to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law, despite the prospects of poverty and insecurity that lay ahead of her. Ruth pledges loyalty to Naomi and her God. She works hard gleaning in the field to provide for herself and Naomi (potentially dangerous work, since she has no male protector), and boldly approaches Boaz with a marriage proposal. He also models integrity and loyalty, addressing the proper customs so that he can redeem this unusual family. Each of the key characters in this story (Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz) place the interests of the other ahead of their own, and thus they model Christ-like faith centuries before their descendant, Jesus, enters the scene.

Since Scripture presents so many shining examples of female leadership, I will continue this list in my next post. Even then, I won’t be able to include all of the stories. The bravery, chutzpah, faithfulness, love, and kindness of these women remind us that leadership in the kingdom of God comes in many forms, if only we have eyes to see.

Boundaries And Forgiveness by Aaron Perry

Jesus taught that if, when offering a gift to God at the altar, you remember a brother or sister has something against you, you should go and be reconciled and then return to offer your gift (Matt. 5:24). I get the impression that reconciliation is the gift God intends to give the worshipper—even before a gift has been brought to God.

Reconciliation is a complex subject because it involves three contexts: the offended, the offender, and the previous (or ongoing) relationship between the two. And reconciliation is so serious that if reconciliation is not forthcoming between two parties in the church, Jesus offered the resources of the family of faith and even his very presence to help (Matt. 18:15-20). Reconciliation is so important that Jesus put responsibility on both the offended (Matt. 18:15: “If your brother or sister sins,” with some manuscripts adding “against you”) and the offender (Matt. 5:23: “your brother or sister has something against you”) to seek reconciliation.

Is there a greater witness to the power of God than reconciliation? In an age of fast and loose friendship, of digital unfriending where one can “friend” without befriending, and when political candidates caused rifts between previously functional families and long-time friends, could a more courageous practice than reconciliation be imagined? As a Wesleyan, my hope in the ability of God to reconcile even the hardest of situations remains high; furthermore, as a Wesleyan, my appreciation for wisdom and practical theology runs deep. Reconciliation brings together hope and wisdom like no other challenge because reconciliation can take hard work and sometimes only happens over time.

“Build the wall!” Perhaps the most memorable phrase of the 2016 election, it captured and made concrete the policy desire to increase border security and immigration regulation. It captured the imagination not only because it rolled much more easily off the tongue than typical policy speak, but also because it is something that each of us has been tempted to do: build walls in our own personal relationships. For our own emotional safety, we have constructed walls between ourselves and another and tightened regulations about when and how the other can (re-)enter our lives. But how do we connect this kind of personal “border security” with the call to be reconciled? How do we have boundaries while maintaining openness to be reconciled? OK. Let’s put away the political connotations for a bit. Let’s overlap this metaphor with a framework of forgiveness to see how it might help us understand boundaries and reconciliation.

Three Kinds of Forgiveness

Steve Sandage describes three different kinds of forgiveness1:

Legal forgiveness: this forgiveness is an act of the will, allowing another to forego punishment. Sandage notes that in couples’ therapy, legal forgiveness might be a commitment to “bite one’s tongue”—not to respond with hostility or to be aggressive in arguing one’s side at every opportunity.
Therapeutic forgiveness: Whereas legal forgiveness can be done instantly—and might be needed in an instant!—therapeutic forgiveness takes time. This is a place of healing for the offended. Without excusing the offense, the offended sees the offender in a new light and starts to bear empathy toward the offender’s own self and story. In this empathy and reconsideration of one’s story, there is healing.
Redemptive forgiveness: This is the aim of the previous approaches to forgiveness. The full expression of forgiveness is reconciliation and redemption, so that God may transform our relationships not only with God but with each other.

Personal Boundaries

Before placing each category of forgiveness into the wall metaphor, let’s consider boundaries. We all have boundaries—invisible and visible lines inside of which we are safe and at ease. Some boundaries are very easy to identify. Skin is a physical boundary, so if you break my skin and I’m okay with it, then it’s likely that you’re a surgeon, nurse, or phlebotomist. (I don’t have a tattoo and don’t plan on getting one.)

Other boundaries are harder to determine and may be relative. Some people hug everyone, some people hug only a few, and some people don’t hug. Time boundaries are also relative. For example, it likely depends on your relationship for how long a person might spend at your house and not cross your boundaries. My mom has a phrase: “Fish and visitors stink after three days.” My guess is that if you’ve been a guest in my parents’ house and stayed longer than three days, then you’re either a really good friend or you’ve never been invited back.

We also have emotional boundaries. When another makes fun of something precious to our lives, overextends their help in a way that feels demeaning, or takes from us without asking, our emotional boundaries are crossed.

When boundaries are crossed, there is usually pain, but sometimes pleasure. Boundaries can be broached in ways that are exciting or comforting, such as when another extends into the beloved’s space to embrace or kiss or when deep knowledge of a person is used not to abuse, but to serve. For our purposes, I want to focus on when boundaries are crossed and there is discomfort and pain.

Boundaries should get marked definitively when there is pain at their crossing. A boundary might get marked by saying, “That makes me uncomfortable,” “That hurts my feelings,” or simply, “No.” Unfortunately, sometimes we do not mark boundaries and the offending person might continue to trespass boundaries without awareness or without care. When the unaware offender realizes there is a boundary, they might respect the boundary, but when the apathetic offender realizes there is a boundary, they will continue to break it over and over again. In these times, we must build a wall. Boundaries that will not be respected must be protected.

But just what kind of wall is built matters a great deal. Some walls (figuratively) are built with razor wire, spikes, armed turrets, and alligator-lined moats. These walls are dangerous. They are meant to be dangerous. They mark boundaries and warn the trespasser not to approach them—ever. They are weaponized walls: what was supposed to protect will be used to attack if given the chance.

Other walls are built with no less strength but are simply defensive. Rather than being lined with razor wire, they are lined with padding on the outside. When the offender comes close to the offended, they are not injured, but neither can they broach the wall. An attitude that seeks not to escalate ongoing conflict and not to react aggressively at any opportunity builds the padded wall.

Legal Forgiveness

Legal forgiveness is the padded wall. An attitude of legal forgiveness does not pretend that there is a functional relationship, but neither does it perpetuate the conflict. Legal forgiveness has marked boundaries and judged that what happened was wrong, but does not seek to attack given the opportunity.

Let’s put this back in Jesus’ teaching. Suppose you are the offended person who has built a wall. What might the offender find if they have left their gift at the altar to be reconciled to you? Will they be impaled on spikes? Nipped by the released hounds? Will the wall that is constructed become your weapon to inflict pain on them? It’s only a matter of time in life before any person needs to approach another for forgiveness and wonders what reception might be waiting for them.

Therapeutic Forgiveness

But why build walls at all? Like a surgeon cutting the same incision over and over again, when boundaries continue to be trespassed, there cannot be healing. When there are no walls and the wrong, unwanted, and/or misguided crossing of boundaries continues without correction, then forgiveness is simply not the right action. There can be no meaningful forgiveness in the midst of intentional, ongoing injustice.2 This is not to say that the offended, who in the case of ongoing injustice is powerless to achieve change, must harbor bitterness, angst, and frustration. It is only to say that that kind of grace and freedom is best described as gracious suffering, not forgiveness. The offended may be afforded a kind of emotional peace by God in the midst of ongoing injustice, but forgiveness is not the appropriate action.3

So, why build walls? We build walls on our boundaries in order to allow for healing. Walls built with legal forgiveness allow for therapeutic healing to happen behind them. They are meant to stop the offense so that the offended may recover, heal, and grow without worry that the offenses are going to continue unchecked.

Redemptive Forgiveness

Redemptive forgiveness recognizes that there is still ongoing work and opportunity even when boundaries are marked and healing has taken place. Forgiveness where injustice has ceased and therapeutic healing is taking place might still lead to reconciliation. Once there is healing, made possible by the wall, redemptive forgiveness allows for the crossing of boundaries once again, but with safety and security.

Let’s go back to Jesus’ command to leave our offering gift. The person who has left their gift at the altar and has encountered a padded wall now knows that a wall exists around the other person. Behind the padded wall, there is therapeutic healing taking place. Whether or not the time is right to access the door in the wall is unknown to the offender. Yet both offended and offender is called to aim at reconciliation. Again, whether or not reconciliation is possible in this life is very complex (and beyond the scope of one blog to address). But if both the offended and offender believe that following Jesus’ teaching is possible, then they must be aimed at reconciliation. This is redemptive forgiveness: doors and windows are added and walls may even be removed over time. The removal of the wall does not mean that boundaries no longer exist, but that a relationship may be marked by such safety, security, and trust that marking the boundaries with walls is no longer necessary. Redemptive forgiveness aims at the removal of walls, though it may start by opening doors and establishing guidelines for coming through the walls.

Conclusion

My first home left quite a bit to be desired—including central heat and about 200 square feet of exposed block in the basement. Given that I lived in Canada, building a wall to insulate the exposed block was one of my first projects. But I had never built a wall before. It remained daunting and mysterious to me—even with YouTube’s tutorials. Luckily, I had a willing and talented friend to help me frame and insulate a wall. The job was completed faster and better than it would have been on my own.

I think that’s how the walls we’ve talked about above are to be built: with the help of a friend. Unlike physical walls, it is sometimes easier to construct emotional walls on our own. Building walls with a friend helps keep us accountable to crafting the walls not as weapons but as protections. Friends help us make sure that walls mark our boundaries and don’t unnecessarily expand them. Friends who help us build walls can be given permission to see that there is healing work happening behind them.

1 Steven J Sandage and F. LeRon Shults, Faces of Forgiveness: Searching for Wholeness and Salvation; (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003), especially Introduction and Section 1. While Sandage has deepened and modified some of the following, this thought is rooted in his taxonomy.

2 This is not to deny what peacemaking experts like Ken Sande might call “overlooking.” Healthy people can overlook an offense out of a sense of security and self. This ought not to be an ongoing action. Overlooking offenses is only possible by people with differentiated selves — people who have boundaries and know what they are. Overlooking the same offense either slips into a denial of the offense or is an indication that a person lacks a self and the ability to overlook an offense. In the latter case, they are not overlooking, but possibly being victimized or subjecting themselves to offense complicitly.

3 I owe part of this line of thinking to Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

Brick by Brick: The Ministry Long Haul by Kim Reisman

Perhaps you’ve heard the familiar story of a peasant who was wearily shifting heavy stones from one spot to another.

“What are you doing?” a man asked.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” the peasant replied, frustrated at the backbreaking work. “I’m moving rocks.”

Meanwhile, a short distance away, another peasant was wearily shifting heavy stones from one spot to another. The man approached that laborer.

“What are you doing?” asked the man.

This worker smiled, mopping sweat from his forehead.

“I’m building a cathedral.”

Both men were doing laborious work that stretched their muscles, drained their strength, and exhausted their resources. One responded by describing his immediate task. The other responded by describing the big picture toward which he was laboring.

Is your to-do list full? Is your calendar overflowing? Are you overwhelmed, perhaps not by the number of ministry tasks ahead of you, but by their significance? Sometimes the gravity of the labor ahead of us is daunting.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9) Paul knew what it was to be weary. He didn’t have a quiet life. Paul was arrested, beaten, put in jail; he was shipwrecked on an island; he was lowered over a town wall in a basket to make a safe getaway. But he knew he wasn’t just moving rocks: the picture was much bigger than that. Paul labored in ministry, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ at any cost.

When Paul traveled around the Mediterranean, he walked one mile at a time; he sailed from one wave to the next. There were no shortcuts. Sometimes, he intended to visit one place, and the Holy Spirit would upend his travel plans and direct him to ministry somewhere else. The former zealot sometimes supported himself by making tents while he trained new believers in the beliefs and practices of the Christian faith. Stitch by stitch, mile by mile, the Kingdom of God continued to flourish and grow.

Your ministry happens brick by brick. You can only build with one rock at a time. But your labor is not wasted or fruitless. Rather, God is building new realities you can only glimpse in your ministry to-do list. Don’t grow weary in doing what is right: if you do not give up, you will get to see the effects of your labor.

The Unity of the Faith: Gifts of Congregational Authenticity by Elizabeth Moyer

If I agree that the gifts described in Ephesians 4:11 emphasize living outside of the church’s internal life, I must accept responsibility for my gifting. What does this text say?

“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13 New Revised Standard Version)

If gifted as an apostle, I acknowledge that God sends me. If gifted as a prophet, I boldly and unapologetically proclaim the will of God. As an evangelist, I spread the good news, as a pastor I minister to and protect the congregation, and as a teacher I serve as an instructor of the Christian life.

With my acceptance of that responsibility, I must be sure that I carry out my work in such a way that I am equipping other followers of Christ for the work of the ministry, since we are responsible for building up the global church until all of us come to the unity of the faith. These gifts, whichever you may possess, open up the opportunity to move the body of Christ to a place of unity, emphasizing a continual, dynamic relatedness of diverse peoples – to work toward moving the whole congregation toward intercultural life.

There are desires for the worship on Sunday to reflect the residents of countless communities, for our communities of faith to become more culturally diverse. Does the average faith community understand the implications of such a racial shift? Does the average faith community understand that this move is about becoming an agent of racial reconciliation and authentic diversity? Are whole congregations willing to pursue intercultural life? And how would this intercultural life be authentic and not just visible in the community?

For one thing, such a shift requires an ongoing commitment to diversity in worship and understanding that other people’s experience and response to the Holy Spirit in worship may be different. For another, congregations must be willing to discuss openly the pain of racism that persists in America. There must be acknowledgment of the ever-changing nature of the church, relationships and contexts; calls for real engagement and mutuality; and attention to narratives of large and small similarities and differences (Branson & Martinez, 2011). Ultimately, it takes action to bridge the divide, which will prayerfully propel us to authentic community.

If intercultural life is to be authentic, then whether you are called as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher, each of us must perform responsibilities in such a way that the congregation understands these implications and benefits. As a congregation, people of faith must hear and validate the narratives of every individual’s ethnic heritage and those of the surrounding cultures in our community to understand better our identity and our responsibility in the world (Branson & Martinez, 2011).

While leading the migration toward social reconciliation across cultural barriers, the focus is not solely on demographic data but encompasses discerning and moving toward unique ways of unity and diversity. Congregations should look at the gifts diversity brings. Cultural diversity within a community of faith can be found within the unique heritage of those who gather together. Many Anglo congregations have members, regular attenders, and casual seekers from Europe, Asia, South American, Africa, and the Caribbean; however, these influences play silently in the background to a Euro/Caucasian American experience. The challenge that we face and are working to overcome is to allow these influences to be a visible part of our experiences together.

While there is no clear map toward goals of shared intercultural life, attitudes and convictions must continue to drive the congregation toward completing the work necessary to understand our unique gifts, celebrate our diversity and stay the course toward becoming a multiethnic church, allowing our various ethnic and cultural backgrounds to come together to form an authentic congregation (Branson & Martinez, 2011).

Sources:

Branson, M. L., & Martinez, J. F. (2011). Churches Cultures & Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.

United States Census Bureau. (2014). American Fact Finder. Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices

Integrity In Christian Leadership by Edgar Bazan

Leadership is a critical key to the success of an organization. John Maxwell explains, “Everything rises and falls on leadership…leadership determines the success of the organization.”

If leadership is a key for an organization to thrive, Christian leadership is essential for the works of Christ being accomplished in the church and world. Thus, the essence of Christian leadership is its focus on what God is doing in the world and joining alongside to accomplish it together.

As Christians, why do we want to become leaders of the church or any other settings? What is it that we are trying to accomplish? What is the motivation of our hearts to lead?

The apostle Paul answers these questions in theological and practical terms. Everything he did was for the sake of the gospel with the goal of telling and sharing the story of Jesus Christ, and making disciples of those that decided to follow Jesus. He had a clear goal: “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Cor. 9:23) and “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (2:2).

Hence, when we talk about Christian leaders, we are stating that they are Christians from core to crust and that their motivation to lead and serve comes from their Christian character. While leaders, in general, may have diverse reasons to lead, the essence of Christian leadership is modeling Christlikeness (living, acting, and interacting as Jesus did) and accomplishing God’s mission: the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A Christian leader ought to lead for the sake of Christ’s love and God’s mission and not personal ambition.

From here, the integrity of Christian leadership is measured by the commitment a Christian leader has to Christ and the mission of God since Christian leaders are specifically called and entrusted to be stewards of the church and God’s mission.

I used to believe that good Christian leaders were the most charismatic, skillful, and influential people in our midst. Although these characteristics are not self-excluding of good leaders, they are not enough nor are they the main rule of Christian leadership. It took me a little while to discern that to identify good Christian leaders one must look beyond what is apparent and pay attention to the integrity of their character: what’s in the heart.

Henry Nouwen shares a story in his book Spiritual Formation to speak to the notion of recognizing what is in the heart:

A little boy was watching a sculptor work. For weeks this sculptor kept on chipping away at a big block of marble. After a few weeks, he had created a beautiful marble lion. The little boy was amazed and said: “Mister, how did you know there was a lion in the rock?”

He explains this story this way, “Long before [the sculptor] forms the marble, he must know the lion. The sculptor must know the lion by heart to see him in the rock. The secret of the sculptor is that what he knows by heart he can recognize in the marble. A sculptor who knows an angel by heart will see an angel in the marble…What do you know by heart?”

This is a daring and uncomfortable question for all Christian leaders: What do we know by heart? According to Nouwen, the answer is revealed in what we project and impress into others, in the trails we leave behind every way we go, what we are able to see in them even when nobody else does.

Christian leaders must see in everyone the possibility of them becoming Christ-followers too. To put it bluntly: are more people loving God and following Jesus because they crossed paths with us, Christian leaders? Are the people around us committing to Christ because of our witness to them?

If we take this assessment, then to recognize the integrity of a Christian leader one must pay attention to how they minister and serve others, and what kind of impact and legacy they leave in people’s lives. One can fool others with eloquent rhetoric and impressive, charismatic skills, but investing in the wellness, healing, and salvation of others requires a deep sense of commitment to God and Christ’s gospel.

Christian leadership is not a synonym of being ahead or on top above everyone else, but it is about the emptying of ourself for the sake of the other.

As a pastor and Christ-follower, I pray for everyone to love and follow Christ, and then be moved to serve and be in ministry alongside God too until Christ comes back in final victory.

Works Cited

Maxwell, John C. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You. Nashville: Nelson, 1998.

Nouwen, Henri J. M. Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit. HarperCollins, 2010.

Letting God Continue Your Education by Edgar Bazan

When we think about the story of Creation in the Christian faith, we typically do it within the context of Genesis, the story of the past and how things came to be. One may think this creating process was settled at the beginning of time, and that God transitioned from being an entrepreneur to a manager, or worse, a mere aloof supervisor.

However, if we pay close attention to the backdrop of the biblical narrative, we find a God who is actively engaged with Creation, with the people, and progressively constructing new realities. These realities are singular and communal stories, our callings, the reasons for which we exist. In other words, God continues to create for us and through us, making us participants in the not-yet-settled continuity of creating.

As it is in God’s character to be actively creating new things, we were given the ability to do likewise. Thus, we lose meaning and purpose when there are no more goals to be achieved or finish lines to cross. And what comes next is the tragedy of settling, reducing, and subjugating the passion in our blood and soul for the new. Our dreams dwindle and we tell ourselves “I am done,” becoming a mere memory of the past, of the “good years,” with no more to look after, for life has turned into a duty rather than a journey, like a great movie that leaves you with an eager expectation of what “comes next” but there are no sequels. It just ends without ending.

How does this relate to continuing education? Well, the pun is well-intended.

As a person, I have always had curiosity and hunger for the new. I was never afraid of exploring possibilities for my life. I could tell many stories of the types of jobs I had in my teenage years, the wide array of people I have met, and the precious life lessons I have learned. I was not aware of this until I was an adult and reflected on my journey of life and faith. Of course, we all are different, each one with unique personalities, preferences, and characters traits, but if there is one thing I can share that I believe can make a difference in others regardless of how similar or different we may be, it is the power of education.

How could my curiosity or hunger for life have made any difference if I had not at the same time pursued my education? We can spend our whole lives knocking on doors, but until we realize that it is our education that has a vast power to open them, we may never experience the fullness of why we exist.

A great danger in life is as I mentioned before “settling.” This can also be understood as plateauing, becoming a flat line with no pulse.

In Immunity to Change Kegan and Lahey share their life-long journey of studying and testing their thesis of how the adult brain can evolve in how one perceives the world and acts in it. They talk about the common problem of “plateaus in adult mental development” and how as we grow older we not only resist change but also lose any interest in it (by “change” I mean new learning, aspirations, and new or updated life-goals). The majority of adult people function in these plateaus, a sort of outdated mental pattern, and have given up on all desire to learn new things.

Continuing education has the power to awaken us and recreate in us new ways to pursue and find meaning in life.

What will distinguish your leadership from others’ in the years ahead? Your ability to continuing developing yourself.

In my personal life experience, I have learned that I could not be where I am now if I had stopped pursuing learning. Because of this realization I know now that I must never stop learning, growing, and being transformed in and through the development of new abilities; I must feed my mind with new and fresh ideas, especially if they challenge assumptions and behavioral patterns that have not led me to anything new in my life and ministry; and conformity is not a strength necessarily, but a dull and fruitless waste of creativity and talent.

I am a 35-year-old husband, dad of two, a pastor with 13 years of serving churches, and a student of life and church. When I was 15 years old, I thought “this is life!” Then, in my early 20’s I thought, “now, this is life!” But then again in my 30’s, although at the time those earlier memories felt they were “it,”, I now feel again that my life has just begun, and I want to be excited, intrigued, and challenged for what still lies ahead.

If you are a pastor too, a leader in the church, we share a responsibility to expand our minds and renew our faith, for the continuity of God’s work in us is, in many ways, contingent upon our mental, spiritual, and emotional development.

The ever-changing world demands an ever-adapting leader who not only looks ahead but also leads into the future by being well-informed of the past and present, and with an imagination for the future. This is a constant pursuing of the calling of God into new ventures as we move on in life and as the world moves on and reshapes itself around us. The challenges and opportunities of ministry can’t be met by settling down in our learning. Indeed, the nature of the Christian faith is to be an organic one, an ever-growing and moving creature, and not a relic.

Jesus said, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” (Jn. 5:17)

Could it be that God has not finished creating you and that this continuing creating process includes new learning, revelations, strengths, and dreams? Perhaps God’s idea of sanctifying us includes nurturing our brains with new and better ideas.

Let’s be students for life.

Amen.

Essential Practices for Personally Making Disciples (Part I) by Paulo Lopes

You and I are called to be personally engaged in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Actually, this is one thing all of us should be doing if we claim to follow Jesus. If you’re a church leader, this is especially important. You can’t expect the community you lead to do something you’re not willing to do yourself.

(By the way, if you struggle with this assumption, you may want to start by reading THIS post from a few weeks ago.)

To keep things simple, I’ll work with this definition of a disciple: A disciple is someone who spends time with Jesus, learning from Jesus how to become more like Jesus in character (who he is) and competency (what he does). At some point during this process, a disciple will confess Jesus as Lord.

An easy way to figure if you’re currently engaged in disciple-making is to ask yourself a simple question: “Who are my disciples? Who is being led to spend time with Jesus, learning from Jesus how to become more like Jesus, because of their relationship with me?” This is the same question the Holy Spirit asked me several years ago. If, like me, you can’t think of someone who fits that description, there is work to do!

The truth is that for those of us in full-time ministry, it’s tempting to think that our work equals making disciples. We think of things like preaching, teaching and leading our churches as our parts in the process. And that’s true! But there’s no legitimate substitute for developing friendships outside of church circles, investing in those relationships, sharing our faith, and walking alongside people as they discover a transforming relationship with Jesus.

It’s much less comfortable, and it challenges our sense of adequacy because it forces us to reflect on and adjust the ways we deal with our families, money, time, or any other aspect of our lives. Developing discipleship relationships exposes us for who we truly are.

I want to share three simple elements that helped me make sense of disciple-making as something personal: a people; a place; and a plan.

A People

Disciple-making involves people. What we often fail to realize is that it usually involves a particular people. In the Bible, God chose a particular people to reveal God’s grace and purpose for the whole world. This choice had nothing to do with how good the Israelites were. It had everything to do with a God who refuses to be generic in approach.

Jesus didn’t just parachute into a Jewish community. He was born into and shared a history and a culture with a people. This is what being incarnational means. I’m always in awe of the lengths to which God was willing to go to act out his reconciling, redeeming love for us all.

We can’t stop at this sense of awe, though. Jesus invites us to imitate him in our approach, to become missionaries.

But how do we go about this today? Here are a few simple questions to get us started:

Who do I relate to naturally outside of church?

You might have a tribe outside of church relationships already. They may be your neighbors, coworkers, teammates, hobbyists, or staff at the local coffee shop. If you relate to people in at least one of these circles, start there.

If you don’t, then it’s time to set aside at least one day a week to get outside of “churchtown.” Find a hobby, meet a neighbor, or work from a coffee shop. It doesn’t take much to find people disengaged from church or faith.

I moved with my family to Richmond, Virginia two years ago. We spent our first three months looking for the right home for us. We had a wish list for our house, but we also wished for the right people. We prayed for a community where we could develop friendships that lead to discipleship. God came through, and just a year and a half later, our most significant relationships are with our neighbors. We have hosted and have been invited to parties, we’ve gone out with friends, and we’ve gotten to know the stories of people in our community. In the process, we’ve come to love our neighborhood.

God is calling you to love a people. Start by spending some time praying for that people. Pray for God to prepare encounters, conversations, and opportunities to learn and share.

Who are the “persons of peace” in my community?

I was introduced to the idea of “person of peace” by Jo Saxton and Mike Breen (You can find them here and here). “Persons of peace” are people you encounter who a) welcome you; b) receive you; c) are open to you; d) are curious about your life because of Jesus; e) serve you. You will find examples in Luke 9 when Jesus sends out his disciples, or in Acts with Peter and Cornelius, Paul and Lydia, and Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch.

“Persons of peace” are community insiders who open doors for you simply by becoming your friends. Because of God’s prevenient grace, we should simply assume that God was at work in people’s lives before we ever show up. “Persons of peace” are one of God’s ways of reminding us of this. They are ready to receive even before you arrive. Since many of us haven’t lived in our communities for very long, finding “persons of peace” is essential.

Fourteen years ago, my mom discovered an illegal housing settlement just outside her church’s neighborhood. This is common in many Brazilian city suburbs. People come seeking opportunities, and end up in slums – often illegal land settlements – when they are unable to find decent jobs. She decided to reach out to that community only to discover they had been exploited by pastors who preached a prosperity gospel and were all too eager to receive their tithes and offerings.

Then she met Mr. Dirceu, a local community leader who was a “person of peace.” People feared Mr. Dirceu but they also respected him. He welcomed her, introduced her to people, and vouched for her. For four years, all my mom did was visit people, hear their stories, pray for those who were sick, and share her faith.

We eventually planted a church in that neighborhood. Today she is trusted and beloved by that community. In an area where police raids, killings, and drug-related violence are all too common, she is protected like one of their own. This would have never been possible without Mr. Dirceu.

Who has God prepared ahead of time to welcome you? Could it be that friendly neighbor who knows everyone? The loud barista at your local Starbucks who’s always striking up conversation? Could it be your boss, your gym instructor, the super-involved parent at the local PTA?

Do you have someone who comes to mind? Spend some time in prayer and ask God to lead you to persons he’s prepared in advance for you.

Growth & The Danger of Fruitfulness by Kim Reisman

Everyone in the church wants to be “fruitful.”

Sometimes this is code for what my Scottish pastor friend calls “butts and bucks” – rear ends in pews and a bountiful offering plate. While some good things grew from the church growth movement, weeds sprang up as well. One of the most tenacious tendencies that took root was the habit of equating attendance numbers with ministerial success.

Plenty of ink has been spilled critiquing the downsides of the church growth movement and positing alternative ministerial models and visions for the future.

The danger of fruitfulness and the danger of the church growth movement are two different things, however, if you’re not equating them in the first place. Models aside, how do you handle sudden fruitfulness? How do you handle a surge of involvement, engagement, and growth? Maybe you’ve worked and labored in the shadows for long, tedious months and years, to stumble into a situation where you’re unprepared for what feels like a Niagara Falls of ping pong balls you’re attempting to catch in a laundry basket.

The disciples encountered that after a long, weary night of pointless (profitless) fishing. They had used all their skills, experience, and materials to do what they did best: go fishing. And sometimes even seasoned practitioners haul up empty nets. Sometimes you faithfully practice what you know you need to do, and there is no immediate, tangible result. You question if your investment of time was wasted, you recalculate what resources you have on hand to get through the day, to feed yourself and others. You check your best sources of the most recent data on where the fish are biting, what weather looks like. In short, you do your best, and best yields dripping water from an empty net.

And then, Jesus. And somehow, around your well-earned experience and knowledge of the waters and migration patterns, around irritated, sullen fatigue, around your personal hunger, for seemingly no reason, Jesus comes. And Jesus says something counterintuitive to everything you’ve known and witnessed and accumulated over the years. But when you choose to follow, the nets lurch, sway, and fill, so heavy that they begin to break, so heavy you have to call in backup, so heavy that the haul itself becomes a problem as boats groan and equipment fails.

No expert was able to forecast it, just like no Ted Talk speaker could’ve predicted the moment the Holy Spirit would whoosh through the upper room where over a hundred women and men were crowded in prayer, wondering if today would be the day, or if they would come back, again, tomorrow on a seeming fool’s errand. How do you respond when – from your perspective – all of a sudden, the floodgates open?

First, rapid growth sometimes needs reshaped and redirected. Organic fruitfulness will fill whatever space it can find, and with limited time and resources, you may not see the crooked shape it’s taking that you need to redirect early, before it becomes a problem.

This past spring I planted seedlings in a garden, the first time I’d successfully grown tomato plants from seeds (often, you buy small plants in a package from a greenhouse or box store). I didn’t expect the seeds to germinate overly successfully. I didn’t expect the seedlings to harden off successfully, anticipating some loss when they moved from their cushy indoor lives to the outdoor elements. I had healthy expectations.

But they survived. Even after being absent for ten days in their early lives, leaving them unwatered. Now, twenty plants had sprawled over the garden area, and their day to day growth was so sudden that branches hadn’t been caught in metal tomato cages. They sprawled, tangled together, growing outward.

The organic growth followed whatever path it found, meaning that branches of the plant itself, while thriving, took crooked, awkward shape. This only became apparent during the process of driving stakes next to the thick green stalks to stake up the sprawling growth.

Intercepting the branches to stake them, reshaping their direction and form, prevented loss. Branches against the ground were more apt to be yellowed, overly moist; sometimes they blocked the view of bunches of young green tomatoes that could’ve been exposed to too much damp and not enough sunlight.

In the midst of facing twenty tomato plants creating a three-foot-tall jungle, stopping to take stock and assess the shape of the growth was vital to intervene in a shape of growth that would be additionally problematic later. It’s not a time to micromanage, but it is a time to glance at the big picture and identify potential trouble spots and retrain the growth to expand in the direction you’re aiming for.

If your growth is taking a shape that could be unhealthy, go ahead and go to the trouble of redirecting as early as possible, because the cost could be more than tomatoes exposed to slugs or wet soil, it could be souls who begin to grow and then get choked out.

Second, be ruthless in your pursuit to grow good fruit, not just lots of fruit. The idea of pruning is nothing new, but it feels odd to snap off smaller branches on a tomato plant so that those nutrients will go to tomatoes and not lots and lots of green leaves.

But not every new member-initiated ministry is the best use of resources, is it? If seemingly spontaneous growth explodes, it can tend to go off in all directions, and that isn’t always as good of a thing as it seems. You don’t want activity for activity’s sake, or growth for growth’s sake.

You want a healthy plant, a healthy garden, and good fruit that will last beyond hype and frenzy.

Third, if you find yourself in a growing boom, prepare for a harvest that will tax your resources and creativity. I see what’s growing on the twenty tomato plants outside. And I really don’t want any loss or waste. So I’m researching canning, freezing, and storing. I’m researching recipes and methods. I know I’ll have to carve some extra, flexible time for the days when everything’s coming up tomatoes. I don’t want to miss the opportunity. I want to reach for a jar of marinara sauce when it’s five degrees and snowy and smile at the July sun that’s bottled up inside it.

And you want to see a person who’s been planted and watered and is flourishing and growing and who, months and years down the road, is continuing to bear witness to the season when they came to Christ. The long-term effects of the harvest will bring joy and beauty in unexpected ways when subzero wind is howling, as it inevitably does in seasons of ministry and life.

I don’t know if you’re in a season of plodding, laboring, or attempting to catch the harvest. Sometimes it seems more manure than miracle.

But if, on the off-chance, Jesus has upended your wisdom, keep these things in mind as your nets strain, as your plants hang heavy, and be thankful.

P.S. – and pray. The other day I found something bubbling up out of my heart. I was praying for the people who would end up eating some of the extra tomatoes growing on my vines. I was praying for whomever would end up with a jar of homemade marinara sauce at Christmas. I was praying…for my tomatoes. For them to give good nutrients to growing bodies.

Sometimes one of the best things you can do in ministry is to plant a physical garden, not just a spiritual one. We all need to see results of our labor.