Today’s Readings: Psalm 54; Jonah 3:1-10; John 3:22-36; 1 Corinthian 4:1-15; Psalm 9
I had a rather surreal experience this past week. I had the opportunity to return to the seminary from which I graduated and participate in a discussion about the emerging/emergent church movement. As I walked into a classroom in which I had sat so often as a student, I became aware of some fundamental shifts that had taken place within me over the past seven years. I realized, for instance, that seven years ago I believed that books were the greatest source of information regarding the practice of ministry. Now – while I still believe that books can be an importance source of information about the practice of ministry – I believe that the Spirit provides a far greater source of grounding for the practice of my ministry. Seven years ago I believed that the institutional church was in need of change. Now, I believe the institutional church is in need of transformation. Seven years ago, I believed that religious leadership was about fixing things. Now, I believe that spiritual leadership is about facilitating things. Needless to say, the changes within myself caused me to feel a little out of place. As I sat with those feelings, I found a great deal of comfort in Paul’s words from today’s passage from 1 Corinthians. “It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don’t even rank myself.” Those words encouraged me to stop trying to rank myself using my own standards from the past and simply accept myself for whom I am today: a servant of God. That is the only standard that ultimately matters. I wander what standard you use to evaluate your own life. Do you use your own standards, the standards of another, or God’s? Til next time…
I had a rather surreal experience this past week. I had the opportunity to return to the seminary from which I graduated and participate in a discussion about the emerging/emergent church movement. As I walked into a classroom in which I had sat so often as a student, I became aware of some fundamental shifts that had taken place within me over the past seven years. I realized, for instance, that seven years ago I believed that books were the greatest source of information regarding the practice of ministry. Now – while I still believe that books can be an importance source of information about the practice of ministry – I believe that the Spirit provides a far greater source of grounding for the practice of my ministry. Seven years ago I believed that the institutional church was in need of change. Now, I believe the institutional church is in need of transformation. Seven years ago, I believed that religious leadership was about fixing things. Now, I believe that spiritual leadership is about facilitating things. Needless to say, the changes within myself caused me to feel a little out of place. As I sat with those feelings, I found a great deal of comfort in Paul’s words from today’s passage from 1 Corinthians. “It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don’t even rank myself.” Those words encouraged me to stop trying to rank myself using my own standards from the past and simply accept myself for whom I am today: a servant of God. That is the only standard that ultimately matters. I wander what standard you use to evaluate your own life. Do you use your own standards, the standards of another, or God’s? Til next time…
No comments:
Post a Comment