So here I am....a minister having served the church for 20 years. What I have discovered in this time is that most people are members of the church because of the relationships they have established with other people.Yes, God has called us to live in community, in relationship with us.
The other thing I have and am learning is that many people who have been members of the church for quite some time have relationships with other members in the church but don't have a clue about the details of their lives.....the brokenness, pain, fear, struggle that the other has and is enduring.
Relationships without the presence or possibility of transformation really means very little. Without the ingredient of transformation church might as well be a Lion's Club or a PTA. In fact many criticize the church for this very reason.
I don't know the brokenness of many, though I know none of us can live life without being broken in some manner. He rejects God's gift for transformation too afraid to let his brokenness known.
1 comment:
Dear Blake, Oh I see why it is hard to be a paster in this day and age of pressure, exposure, and dysfunction. It is hard to wake up each day anew to the same task of bearing burdens of others. So, please, congregation, to read the Living Word with joy to your pastor so that he may feel Spiritual Delight in Divine Presence...rejoice anew in warm fellowship with the current Body of Christ. Amen.
caf+m Saint Louis, Missouri, February 28 2008
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