Beginning Anew

I've been in ministry my entire life. From the time I was 2 weeks old I have been in church with my dad who is a pastor. I have sat in hospitals late into the night with people I don't know. I have visisted numerous nursing homes, again to see people I didn't know.

I have spent many a night in a funeral home for some church member's great Aunt Suzy who she loved dearly but hadn't seen in 20 years and Sally-church-member will just be devastated if her pastor (and his family) don't come to the funeral home and visit, nevermind that Sally-church-member got mad at the pastor 5 years ago over a sermon he preached about tithing or coveting or gossiping or something like that and hasn't been back to the church since except once a year just long enough to stir up more trouble and leave again.

I have also been in ministry positons where I saw hundreds of people come to the alter and make a life changing decision to follow Christ. I have seen mighty moves of God, where revivals break out and last for weeks on end. I've spent time in church services in a tent where worship started at 7pm and didn't end until the wee hours of the morning, dozens of people were saved and the word was never preached from the pulpit.

So i'm rambling, but what is it all about? It's about focus (I know, irony, huh?). We as christians have got to learn that it is not all about "US". The Great Commmission doesn't say "Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost... if you feel like it and things are done your way and if no one has hurt your feelings lately."

Unfortunately, the Christian community has allowed themselves to spend more time fighting amongst themselves than they spend spreading the word outside of the four walls. We worry so much about how the sanctuary looks or how the preacher dresses or what he preaches on. We fret about things that offend our asthetic, we groan about whether the air conditioning runs during the week or not because obviously God isn't big enough to supply our needs and pay our power bill.

Really makes you wonder why people find other things to do on Sunday morning, huh? I mean, we all need more stress and argument in our lives. Just something to break up that monotony known as "the rest of our lives".

As for me, this week i'm going on break. I think breakfast at Cracker Barrel is going to be on the agenda this week. Maybe the next week i'll start looking for somewhere to attend church, but it has become evident that my ministry cannot be tied to a church anymore. I am looking into options with other people i've been in church-independent ministry with before (which was the most successful i've been involved in, when you evaluate number of lost people reached)

Church has managed to get in it's own way when it comes to reaching people. The mentality of "the lost people know where we are when they get ready to dodge everlasting retribution" has got to go. Until that time, i'll attend and i'll worship... and i'll promptly go put my time into a ministry that actually reaches people.

Ever been burnt out? Ever just said "To Heck with this!"? I'm there. Today, my pastor resigned, and though I know the reasons I cannot discuss them here. The problem is that it all comes down to politics. What the church board says happened isn't really what happened, not that what they said isn't true, but it does not address the real issues.

When this church started, we had a vision... that vision was to reach lost people, to engage them where they live. Now the things I hear from the elders and a portion of the membership is "we like our 30 or 40 'family' members"

Not me. I want to see lost people reached.

So today, I also resigned as a member of the P&W team, something I didn't think even a week ago i'd actually do. I wish things could be different. For now, though, i'm going to go to the beach. I will try to turn my mind off for a few days. After that, i'm not sure where I will land, but i'm almost completely positive I will not be jumping into another church based ministry. Don't get me wrong, I intend to have a church home and somehwere that I can go and worship, but as for ministry I will be doing something evangelical, not just politics... oops I mean, church as usual.

I hate politics and I hate it worse when it becomes more important than God.