Food for thought

Sorry I didn't write a blog last week - I was off having fun on our annual Bible-Centred Youthworker Conference. This week one of the guys from that conference sent me his newsletter. He has kindly allowed me to quote two chunks from it - thanks Matt! I won't add any comments to them. I found his thoughts very stimulating - and hope you will too.

'How does one pursue a career in which a central quality is meekness of spirit?  How does one be ambitious about a calling which asks us to die to self?  How does one be a leader of men when one's motive should be motivated by servant-hood?  How can one strive for success in a field where complete dependence on God is required?  Actually these statements should and do apply to everyone who considers themselves a follower of Jesus.  We are all called to minister with our lives no matter our occupation.  However, these questions are particularly applicable and difficult for me who finds himself called to ministry in the traditional sense.  How much should my current activities be motivated by a desire to be qualified and successful? We live in a world where employers look just as hard at the resume-CV of those aspiring to be pastors as to medical doctors.  Every resume expert will tell you to speak as glowingly as you can about yourself without actually lying.  They will say to use exciting adjectives such as: passionate, motivated, creative, enthusiastic, imaginative, organized, dynamic, inspirational, bursting with ideas, exceptional.  And if you think this doesn't apply to pastors, these adjectives were all taken directly from advertisements for ministry-workers at the back of a Christian magazine I looked at recently.'

and...

'It's amazing how long someone can be a Christian, how many times one can have read the Bible, and how many classes one can have taken, and yet still be at a quite elementary level faith-wise.  My guess is that much that looks like the growth of a Christian is really more growth into the culture of Christianity, or growth into deeper head-knowledge of your particular church's beliefs, rather than actually growing closer to God and growing to trust Him more moment by moment.'

Our Father knows us

Yesterday morning, the leader of our service took an unusual approach to a classic youth activity. Have you ever played the game where five or six young people line up behind a blanket, with just one foot poking out below the blanket - and someone has to guess who each foot belongs to? This was the same idea, but with slits cut in a sheet so that hands could be poked through. The lovely thing was that the leader then asked for half a dozen Dads to come up with their children. The Dads lined up nervously, while their children hid behind the sheet and each popped through one small hand. Could each Dad recognise their own child's hand? Would anyone get it wrong? It was a tense moment...

Thankfully, each Dad spotted his own child and all was well - but two of them looked mightily relieved! The service leader then made a link between human Dads and our heavenly Father - how He knows and cares for each one of us.

It was a great activity. One I shall doubtless 'borrow' at some point. You may like to as well. And what a lovely reminder that, even if a Dad had felt that one little hand looked much like another, that our heavenly Father made us, knows us, loves us. 'Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head (and hand!) are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.' Luke 12v6-7

The curious incident of the wasp in the night-time

A few nights ago - at exactly one minute past midnight - my bed was dive-bombed by a large, loud wasp, seemingly unaware that it shouldn't be awake in early January. Half an hour, and a variety of implements, later, the wasp was still refusing to leave my bedroom. It attached itself firmly to a rug hanging on the wall, and wouldn't budge. I ended up lifting the rug off the wall, carrying it out of my flat, down two flights of stairs and into the road - where I then had to beat it for several more minutes before the wasp deigned to fly off. (I was beating the rug, not the wasp!).

The thing that struck me was what an impact this wasp had on me. It was late, dark and cold - I was tired and in bed - but I sprang into action. I never considered giving up - I knew I couldn't go back to sleep while the wasp was still above my bed.

In my years as a Schools' Worker, as I visited up to 20 schools a week, I noticed a definite trend in January. Many of the teachers had come back to school tired. The Christmas term had been long, the Christmas 'holiday' was hardly restful, and there were bugs aplenty waiting to be caught. As a result, schools were full of tired and stressed teachers. Maybe that's how you're feeling too? The pre-Christmas rush of special events and evangelistic opportunities is fantastic - but also draining. Maybe you then had a busy, family-filled, non restful Christmas - plus a wee bug to keep you company! Now you're starting a new term, but feeling tired and perhaps struggling to find your full enthusiasm for your ministry.

It might be that you genuinely need more rest, in which case see if you can build in a couple of days off. But otherwise, ask God to show you what would help stir you into action. (What's your 'wasp'??) Meeting up with others to plan an upcoming session, rather than doing it on your own? Inviting someone for coffee and to pray for each member of your group? Reading a challenging, encouraging book? Downloading a talk* that will spark your thinking? For me, it was praying with the rest of the team just before leading our group on Sunday morning - that's what sparked me back to full enthusiam for the children we were about to serve. As people who 'hope in the Lord', let us ask God to help us to 'run and not grow weary' (Isaiah 41v31).

* One suggestion for helpful listening would be the main talks and seminars from last year's Bible-Centred Youthworker Conference. These are all available for free download here.