There's lots of good words today in the agent network blogos-universe. Which is good, because I have nothing to report today. Several of these postings are on the ever-growing observation of the career/ministry enigma. I liken ministry to politics. If you've made a career out of it you're heart's probably not in it 100%. I just made that up. Honest.
Brian the Home Depot Guy gave this excellent observation (see Jan 3, 2006 post). Notable quote: "I want to run throughout the halls of academia and throughout the cubicles of corporate faith and call all of these dissenting believers together into one place and tell them all to get a damn job and get to know people and realize that you are insignificant and that the Kingdom will go on, with or without you and your ideologies."
Dustin the Pastor (pondering his own vocation as we speak) posts this excellent, if not typical church job listing. HERE it is...evidence that working for a church is a "job".
And I've been keeping a observant eye on a young, local kid's blog here. He's a grad school student at one of the local bible schools and pondering the whole career thing before it starts.
And completely unrelated to my post's topic but worth reading...Fletch the construction worker gave this excellent sermonette: Smoke em if you got em. Complete with drive-by comments.
My whole experience with ministry as a career/profession came kind of backwards as compared to most. A little personal history (which I don't do here very often): I graduated college with a music teaching degree. Yes, on paper I am trained to teach your kids how to play band instruments and read music. Only an idiot school district would hire me as I abandoned that arrogant, nerdy universe upon graduation. I then worked various jobs for a few years: several in TV broadcasting and production, and a few in print music sales. Like the Home Depot Guy who "tripped and fell" away from vocational ministry, I tripped and fell into it. A ministry to the poor. I fell in love with the poor, but daily grew cynical of the "job" part of ministry. What to do?
Well, I tripped and fell into what I'm doing now. It's weird. I worked "real jobs" for a living and I've worked in vocational ministry for a living. Now I do NOTHING for a living, but my livelihood is one of those weird God things that I'm still learning about. It doesn't make sense but I think it does kind of.
All I've got to go by is the CEO, his promises and his word. Seek the kingdom first...and somehow everything else will work out just fine.
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4 comments:
wow, i just wrote a big comment and then it disappeared. thanks blogger!
anyway, i will try to recall it.
i have been reading your blog for a while and thinking about your vocation and lack of a "real job."
first, i have nothing but love for you because of your service to the poor. you don't just give them resources, you spend time with them. and you tell their stories here, to us. that is a beautiful gift to them. it removes the abstract "poor" and in its place it gives us real persons. so thanks.
as far as ministry, i think you are a monk.
let me explain. you know how there were folk in the ancient past who forsook wealth and went and lived with the poor, living as one of them... monks. at least some monks did this. a vow of poverty. i don't know if you made such a vow, and i am inclined to think that God knows our hearts and even though we are too fearful to make such vows he hears them anyway and answers.
i am so thankful for what you do.
everybody talks about the emergent movement as the new thing. but i think the real work of God is in this quiet, unnoticed work of folk like yourselves and the S&S and others who are a new monasticism, new communities, and so on. it is folk like yourself and simkins and gentry and kellie and Dr J and brooke who are the future of the faith. simple, orthodox, devout, and serving.
blessings on your house brother.
Great to hear that people are removing the term "those people" from the needy, the hungry and oppressed, and instead seeing it as their life's goal to stand beside them, help them, and be helped by them. Let's take the "office" out of elders, deacons, and ministers. Instead, lets empower the elderly to be the elders. Let's invite the spiritually mature to be the overseers. Doesn't that invite the Spirit of God, instead of the government of man?
"But what about the church's strucutre? How will we keep the budget without elders and deacons running the show?" I ask, Why must there be a show to run? Let's take the machine out of church, and return to a simple faith community, where anyone - ANYONE educated by the world's standards or not, can be a church leader.
amen amen
Fletch - thanks for the kind words. You are greatly appreciated too. A monk? Well, if I don't have to shave my head and act inclusive. I wouldn't mind the robe, though.
I clearly understand what you are saying about the vow of poverty thing. I have some words on that subject I'd like to share.
I, for one, have not made such a vow nor do I ever plan to. There's too much ungodly baggage with "poverty" for me to proclaim that I'd want to embrace "it". Baggage like: 1) wanting to grab hold of everything you've got and never let go. 2) reaching out and grabbing everything you can get. 3) accepting crappy things & situations cause "that's what I deserve". Plus many more. There are rich people with a "poverty spirit".
The vow of poverty (imho) is a very man-made act. It is not, nor has it ever been, a mandate from God. It was manufactured by man to appear heroic before other men. Jesus may not have had a big bank account (or any acct.), but he regularly accepted invitations to eat & drink with rich tax collectors, etc. And I'd bet the food & wine were not leftovers meant for "poor people". If someone sewed him a new cloak to wear, I'd bet he would wear it, etc. It's a sowing & reaping thing, I'm sure. It's a desire to not hold on to possessions any longer than needed. Thanks for opening a door to a subject I've wanted to spout my opinions on...so, thanks.
Anyway, poverty is relative in any culture. In middle class America, I might be considered "poverty" (but you probably couldn't tell by looking at me). But compared to Mexico, I'm pretty "rich". So...I don't know where to go with that right now...Big thanks for your words and frendship.
Mark - thanks for the comment. Like you, my wife studied in a masters level bible program at your school several years ago. She too was very much for "raising up the poor" to be/lead the church, etc. She was surprised and ashamed to find that there were no books on the subject. She wrote papers and interviewed local ministers to find out that they had no clue, or even a language to embrace the concept. It frustrated her beyond words. So together we stumbled into a "ministry to the poor" at a local church that had a heart to embrace this empowering the poor thing. We've come a long way in the last 7 years and we're still learning. As we are still discovering, it's probably going to look much different than you think. All the best to you & your wife.
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