I used to have a more entrepreneurial approach to ministry. I thought that pastors and churches need to make things happen. I was motivated towards action. This was partly because I had read Charles G. Finney’s classic, Revivals in Religion. Finney was basically the Billy Graham of the 19th Century, and these were his lectures on revivals that communicate his philosophy of ministry. He saw revival as being all about the right use of the right means. God is always ready to make a revival happen; he believed that any of us can do it if we’re willing to take the right steps. To his credit, he led many people to Christ in what today is called the Second Great Awakening.
I was really drawn to that approach, but later I became more motivated to wait and trust. I had read Henry Blackaby’s book, Experiencing God. Its emphasis was different from Finney’s. You don’t want to just make a bunch of plans and hope that God blesses those plans. Instead, you want to jump on board the moving train of what God’s already doing. It all goes back to the difference between trying to get God to accommodate your will, versus you pursing and seeking His will. So it accords well with the portion of the Lord’s Prayer that says “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done…” (Matthew 6:10). That insight was complemented when I read Philip Yancey’s popular book What’s So Amazing About Grace? Yancey pointed out that Jesus didn’t just accommodate the interruptions to His ministry. In fact, the interruptions were His ministry. This served as a necessary corrective to my instinct to be so organized that I rule out God-opportunities that come my way. I normally begin each week with a list of 30 or 40 things that I need to do. I get so focused on that list that I want to push away all the distractions. It’s an approach that turns away a lot of God-moments. So it was good for me to learn to engage the conversations when they happen. With that, I learned to spend less time in front of a computer screen and more time in front of people – listening to them, praying for them, and ministering with them. The juxtaposition of these different approaches to ministry really struck me. Back last summer I felt compelled to preach on two narratives that illustrate each end of the continuum...
But the second of these narratives provides a useful contrast. The description of the mission of the 70 (or the 72, depending on which Bible translation you’re reading) describes a very planned-out ministry. Only one verse is devoted to the ministry itself (Luke 10:9), which consisted of healing and preaching. But there are a number of verses that focus on the practical details. The first one is prayer; in a famous verse for evangelism (Luke 10:2), Jesus gives the call to use prayer as a means of preparation. Personally I have learned the advantage of making advanced prayers – i.e. praying ahead of ministry meetings and preaching engagements on the schedule. And I have learned the hard way when I have forgotten to do it. The succeeding verses (in Luke 10:3-8) describe a mixed variety of details that always have to be planned out: food, lodging, travel gear, travel tips, introducing yourself to new homes, etc. People may say “the devil is in the details,” but Jesus was spelling out the details right there. This was His way of giving instructions to His advance team. It’s also significant that he gave instructions on how to handle rejection (in Luke 10:10-12). Rejection is part of the Christian experience. Don’t be surprised by it; expect it. But don’t overreact to it either. Shake the dust off your feet and move on. The harvest is plentiful; there are more people out there, and there will always be more opportunities to bring a blessing. There will always be homes where a son of peace resides. Where your ministry is well-received, the blessing of peace rests on them. And where your ministry is refused, the peace comes back to you. So it’s a win-win situation either way. Peacemakers always turn out to be the children of God, even when the things that make for peace become such a bone of contention that persecution arises (cf. Matthew 5:9-12). These two narratives in neighboring chapters of St. Luke’s gospel show that there’s a balance: The church wants to be faithful with the opportunities that God puts in front of us. But we also want to be thoughtful enough to make practical plans. But in either case, it’s God’s project, not ours. So we look to Jesus and we trust in Him as He leads us ahead. God bless you, Andrew McHenry First Congregational Church
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Andrew McHenryI am a husband, a Congregational pastor, and a native Kansan currently living in Thermalito, California. In the past I have also been a prison chaplain and a youth pastor. Interests include reading, railroads, prog rock, KU, and the KC Royals. Archives
March 2024
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