You are the reason I labor on,
to hear you sing praises to Him.
I look at your life and beauty,
and find my hope is rekindled again.
Is the pain worth it?
absolutely!
Is the time well spent?
yes indeed!
I poured out my life into yours,
and to watch you thrive
makes it all worth it.
Today I enjoy the fruit of my labor;
to watch God change a girl.
To watch you love Jesus,
makes my frustrations
tiny.
It is for Christ in the end that we toil
and to this end I work till I die.
To spread God's Word to others
and to watch them love God as I do
Is why I do what I do.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Ministry
Ministry is an odd combination of idealistic dreams and a job to support my family. What is sad is that my experience in ministry looks less and less like the Biblical ideal and more like a place where everyone is seeking to be fed. The reality is that it has always been like that and my idealism was just that: idealism.
What I mean is what people value is what they put their time into. Christians are supposed to be all about Christ and serving Christ in every way. But I look at "church" and I see people putting God in a box they can take out and consume when they need a fix. Christianity is a lifestyle, not a product.
So I bring the Word and pray. I have seen successes and I am very proud of many people and their growth in the Lord. Those people make me happy and I receive a glimmer of hope. I have not seen the dramatic growth that these evangelism companies promise. I wonder if that is the right kind of growth anyway.
It seems as though God gives us just enough to get by and does just enough to preserve His work. I get frustrated that God doesn't come down and change people dramatically; even to go as far as to change our politicians, our stars, and our athletes.
So I survive. I pray. I grow weary of this place and the people. It seems like they have heard everything and anything I add sounds more like my opinion rather than Biblical truth. I believe I am preaching the Word, but I wonder sometimes if people receive a sermon that way. I will serve God in any capacity and for as long as He chooses, even if sometimes I preach to their condemnation rather than their edification. The bottom line is that they are not my friends, they are my flock.
I wish my flock were my friends. I love them, but they resent me like a teenager resents his mother and father.
What I mean is what people value is what they put their time into. Christians are supposed to be all about Christ and serving Christ in every way. But I look at "church" and I see people putting God in a box they can take out and consume when they need a fix. Christianity is a lifestyle, not a product.
So I bring the Word and pray. I have seen successes and I am very proud of many people and their growth in the Lord. Those people make me happy and I receive a glimmer of hope. I have not seen the dramatic growth that these evangelism companies promise. I wonder if that is the right kind of growth anyway.
It seems as though God gives us just enough to get by and does just enough to preserve His work. I get frustrated that God doesn't come down and change people dramatically; even to go as far as to change our politicians, our stars, and our athletes.
So I survive. I pray. I grow weary of this place and the people. It seems like they have heard everything and anything I add sounds more like my opinion rather than Biblical truth. I believe I am preaching the Word, but I wonder sometimes if people receive a sermon that way. I will serve God in any capacity and for as long as He chooses, even if sometimes I preach to their condemnation rather than their edification. The bottom line is that they are not my friends, they are my flock.
I wish my flock were my friends. I love them, but they resent me like a teenager resents his mother and father.
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