Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 109; Daniel 6:1-15; John 17:20-26; 1 Peter 4:1-6; Psalm 86
In the days since my sabbatical last summer, some have asked me what my greatest learning was. Most assume my greatest learning was something technical like where to find new forms of music that appeal to twenty-somethings or how to practice sacraments and rituals in ways that speak to post-modernists. It probably would sound impressive to say something along those lines, but if I gave such an answer it wouldn’t be the truth. The spirit of my greatest learning came from the first two verses of today’s reading from 1 Peter 4:1-6, which read in The Message: “Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.” Let me tell you how this passage relates to my learning from last summer. Like many traditional pastors I was taught that a huge piece of what it means to be a pastor is to assert leadership over a congregation. This assertion means the pastor is expected to step out front and make the necessary decisions in order to “turn things around”. This approach is VERY popular because it’s easy to use. Either you use this system and it works and the pastor is showered with praise and adoration; or you use the system and it doesn’t and the pastor is fired or invited to “move on”. I have one problem with this system, however. In this system it’s the pastor who is out front leading and not the Spirit. No matter how spiritually grounded the pastor is, the decisions in the life of the faith community are still driven by the pastor’s understanding and expression of God’s will. Since I’ve returned from sabbatical, I’ve tried a new way of leading – I’ve tried to step back more and let the Spirit lead. I wish I could say implementing this way of leading has been easy, but it hasn’t. There are things that are tremendously important to me that I’ve had to let go of. I still have plenty of suffering as I continue trying to let go, but thankfully I see plenty evidences of new life and direction that encourage me during my difficult moments. My question for you today is this: when it comes to your life, who is out front leading? Is it you and your will that is out front leading, or is the Spirit out front leading? If you find it’s you out front, I would invite you to sit with today’s passage from 1 Peter in the coming days and see if you might begin to moving away from a tyrannical leader and toward a Leader who promises new freedom and life. Til next time…
In the days since my sabbatical last summer, some have asked me what my greatest learning was. Most assume my greatest learning was something technical like where to find new forms of music that appeal to twenty-somethings or how to practice sacraments and rituals in ways that speak to post-modernists. It probably would sound impressive to say something along those lines, but if I gave such an answer it wouldn’t be the truth. The spirit of my greatest learning came from the first two verses of today’s reading from 1 Peter 4:1-6, which read in The Message: “Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.” Let me tell you how this passage relates to my learning from last summer. Like many traditional pastors I was taught that a huge piece of what it means to be a pastor is to assert leadership over a congregation. This assertion means the pastor is expected to step out front and make the necessary decisions in order to “turn things around”. This approach is VERY popular because it’s easy to use. Either you use this system and it works and the pastor is showered with praise and adoration; or you use the system and it doesn’t and the pastor is fired or invited to “move on”. I have one problem with this system, however. In this system it’s the pastor who is out front leading and not the Spirit. No matter how spiritually grounded the pastor is, the decisions in the life of the faith community are still driven by the pastor’s understanding and expression of God’s will. Since I’ve returned from sabbatical, I’ve tried a new way of leading – I’ve tried to step back more and let the Spirit lead. I wish I could say implementing this way of leading has been easy, but it hasn’t. There are things that are tremendously important to me that I’ve had to let go of. I still have plenty of suffering as I continue trying to let go, but thankfully I see plenty evidences of new life and direction that encourage me during my difficult moments. My question for you today is this: when it comes to your life, who is out front leading? Is it you and your will that is out front leading, or is the Spirit out front leading? If you find it’s you out front, I would invite you to sit with today’s passage from 1 Peter in the coming days and see if you might begin to moving away from a tyrannical leader and toward a Leader who promises new freedom and life. Til next time…
No comments:
Post a Comment