If you are involved with a church planting or missions movement you have likely heard this statement (or some variation of it) proclaimed from pulpits, blogs and ministry newsletters: ”It takes faith to go!”
I certainly won’t argue with that. It does take faith to go! Especially in the difficult work of planting churches, campus ministries and other Kingdom oriented work. Nor is it easy to go away to college or take a job in another city. Yet sometimes going is exactly what God is calling us to.
It has been rightly said by many leaders that the American church is too comfortable. Many people need to get out their comfort zone and engage in greater sacrifice for the cause of Christ. With this generalization I wholeheartedly agree. With the resources of people, free-time and finances at our disposal in America it seems like we should be able to accomplish so much more if everyone was really engaged and passionate about accomplishing our mission.
However, is going the only way to do this? Is going where true faith is evidenced. Though God frequently calls people to go, that doesn’t mean that going is the only way to grow, or the only valid evidence of real faith. In my opinion, sometimes staying can be just as hard, if not harder, than going.
The newness involved in going has an inherent excitement about it that is attractive. Staying can seem boring and stale, especially in our society with it’s ever decreasing attention span. It takes focus and commitment to stick with the old, and to persevere in the “same old boring strokes” of day to day ministry in a context that has lost it’s newness. Though any ministry involving real live people is pretty action packed and “exciting”, building a well established ministry doesn’t exactly have the same excitement-factor as moving to a big city or foreign country to start something out of nothing.
Recently I was speaking to a friend from college and he seemed confused that I am still living serving in the same city that I have been for the past ten years, with no plans of leaving any time soon. Though he didn’t say so, I got the impression that he thought I was somehow missing out on bigger opportunities somewhere else.
I have had many friends and co-laborers in local ministry leave over the years to go and be a part of church plants and missions work in other parts of the world. The people who have gone out are doing some good things which are to be supported and celebrated! However, if we were honest about it, all the going over the years has created stress and increased work-load for those who have stayed. Staying and building takes perseverance and it isn’t always easy.
So what shall we say about going versus staying? Is one more strategic than the other? Is one more of a faith-builder than the other?
I really don’t think so. Both can be challenging and both can stretch a person’s faith. Yet, Biblical faith is simply obedience to God. Though the roles of who is going and who is staying may change depending on the times and seasons of God’s plan, there will likely always need to be some people going and other people staying and building in any missional context.
For everyone to leave would be abandonment, not kingdom advancement. For everyone to stay and no one to ever go would be to neglect the Great Commission and turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the lost and dying outside the current area of ministry.
Yet which role you are to play is between you and God. What is He calling you to do in this season of your life? Faithfulness to God is ultimately what counts.
When “Expressing Yourself” Becomes Complaining
July 19th, 2010 No comments »Have you ever considered the difference between “expressing yourself”, and complaining? The Bible clearly teaches that complaining is not an acceptable practice. But what about just “expressing yourself” or “sharing from your heart”?
I believe that there is a place for sharing unpleasant experiences with others, but we must be very careful with this. Sometimes it would seem that we Christians just use such phrases as euphemisms to make us feel better about what we area actually doing. Complaining.
I think the main difference between appropriate sharing and complaining is basically the absence of two things: humility and genuine thankfulness.
When we are complaining we are usually failing to see the bigger perspective. We are giving in to self-pity and this means a lack of humility that our circumstances, no matter how painful or difficult, are still being used by God for our good.
Giving in to the temptation to complain also means that we have lost a heart of gratitude and a thankful spirit, which honors God.
We need to cultivate hearts of humility and genuine thankfulness. God actually “opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. (This is frightening thought!)
To further guard ourselves against the temptation to complain we would do well to honestly ask ourselves a couple of questions before sharing that frustrating situation with someone else.
How would sharing this information with this person help the situation? Contrary to popular opinion, sharing something with another person doesn’t always help. Sometimes we think that “just talking about it” will automatically help. While in some situations it can help, if the person has some wise insight to share or is able to just listen without getting totally ticked off themselves, but this isn’t always true. Sometimes it’s best to just forget an offense, pray about it and move on.
Is it likely that sharing this information with this person would harm them? (ie. cause them to complain)? We shouldn’t “just vent” to people without thinking about where they are at in their walk of faith or how it could effect them. That’s just selfish. We should consider the emotional/spiritual health and maturity of the person we are talking to before we share things. It is possible for us to be sharing from a place of humility and thankfulness, but yet to still hurt someone else who isn’t mature enough to handle that information.
James 1:26 says “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless”! We Christians cannot allow ourselves to think it’s OK to complain. After all, Jesus has poured out an incredible amount of mercy on us. We are forgiven! We are the last people in the world who should be complaining! Let’s guard our tongues and give our Savior the praise he deserves. Even when we are suffering.
Do you find yourself quick to complain? How can you cultivate more thankfulness and humility in your heart?
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Posted in Cultural Commentary