Thomas Howells, my beloved English Professor in College
Once opined
That you ought to know the job requirements before you
take a job
Sounds right!
But I think, looking back, that I have
More often than not
Taken jobs, and then tried to make them fit my
expectations
I don’t think I really thought it through
When I decided to take on the job of “minister” or
“pastor”
Even after four years of seminary and an M.Div.
I am not sure I had really thought about what it meant to
take on that role.
If I had, I would have understood that I did not have the
skill set
I had some of the skills
But not all
Perhaps not most
So I remade the job to fit my natural skills
Which meant parts of the job got neglected
Perhaps worse
I got away with it, mostly
But underneath some real successes
Was some real poverty
It gets even worse if we start thinking about the whole
idea
Of being a follower of Jesus
OMG
Seriously!
It is one thing to go through the motions of
Memorizing scriptures
Showing up on Sunday morning and being pious
Thinking it looks cool to wear a cross
It is quite another to die to one’s self
To embrace radical love
Which means embracing
Radical generosity
Radical forgiveness
Radical compassion
Radical acceptance and welcome
Which means being willing to let go of much that we prize
And be a servant
And perhaps
Stand against the powers of this world
And resist abusers of power
And haters
And the greedy
To go against the core values
Of a nation gone wrong
Of a religion gone off the tracks
To try and be a follower who is also a “minister,” a
“leader?”
Way beyond me
All I can do is echo the words of Paul (Romans 7, JB Phillips)
In my mind I am God’s willing servant, but in my own
nature I am bound fast, as I say, to the law of sin and death. It is an
agonizing situation, and who on earth can set me free from the clutches of my
sinful nature? I thank God there is a way out through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thank God for the Spirit
Thank God for grace and forgiveness
Thank God for the ways God can use us
Despite ourselves
May we, in these difficult times
Be honest about what the “way” looks like
About who we follow
What we embrace
May we, as best we can
“take on the job”
Of being God’s people
