Dropping The Book For A Moment

So, this morning, I just need to put the textbook down for a moment and write. My hope is to give you a brief, inside look into what it feels like to be in non-vocational pastoral ministry. And I’d say vocational pastoral ministry, too, though I don’t have that exact experience. I don’t often write like this, because often it is hard to know what I should share. Other times, it is a chore to determine whether sharing something will be received as a targeted rebuke, rather than a general encouragement, etc.

The thing I most want to say is that, in my experience, if you are a member of a local body of believers, you are being prayed for. You’re likely being prayed for either way, but as a member of a local body, I can say it with much greater certainty.

You may be a faithful servant, teaching kids, or serving in behind-the-scenes ministry, or highly visible, singing or playing an instrument. You are being prayed for. Your spouse (if you have one) is being prayed for. Your marriage is being brought before the throne. Your kids (if you have them), their goals, their longings, their futures, are all being lifted up. We are praying for God to lead you – to direct your words with friends, to forgive when necessary, to show and receive mercy as you become more like Christ. We are praying you will be rescued from temptation, that you will be a humble and wise witness of the love of Christ in a fallen world.

Or you may be struggling to find connection. You may be having a hard time relating to a leader or another member. You may want things about worship, or children’s ministry, or church direction, that just aren’t happening though you wish they would. You may be absent because of Covid, or present, but feeling invisible. You are being prayed for. Your spouse is being prayed for. Your marriage is being brought before the throne. Your kids, their goals, their longings, their futures, are all being lifted up. We are praying for deeper connection with the local body. We are praying for friendships to be built, for the Spirit to bring unity. We are praying for the church to be what Scripture calls it to be. And we are encouraging other servants in the body to pray, too. To reach out with a meal, with a conversation, with an open home.

I’m not looking for applause or even kudos – I am not always (or often) the best at this. But if you sometimes wonder whether your service is worth it, or if you are even noticed, the answer is, “Yes!” You are loved and cared for. Frequently I am at a loss for how to serve hurting people well. How to reignite the flames of a marriage, how to rekindle a passion for ministry, how to encourage involvement in the body. I need the local body, and the wisdom of the Spirit, too. But we are praying. We are watching to see hearts who are willing to step into those difficult spaces and build connections. We are looking for those who are willing to sacrifice to serve others well.

Non-vocational pastoral/elder ministry looks like unanswered texts and calls, trying to reach out to people and wondering if you’ve done something wrong. It can be discouraging, honestly. It looks like sleepless nights (or waking up unintentionally sometime around 3AM) and praying for the body because you long to see it thrive, to glow with the person of Jesus. It looks like trying to bring Scripture to bear on real issues that people are dealing with, and it looks like holding out heady truths about who God is, what Jesus has accomplished on the cross, and what the Spirit is doing in and through the local body of Christ. Often these two threads are more related than we know or believe.

Thankfully, it is also watching worship come alive on the faces of people God has changed. Discouragement is met by the Spirit speaking and the knowledge that others are praying for me. I get to watch people serve in so many different ways, all according to the way God has gifted them. It is seeing people grow more patient towards their children, more forgiving with their spouses, more aware of their sin and more passionate about Christ’s people.

But overwhelmingly it looks like prayer. Prayer for laborers in the field. Prayers for unity in the body. Prayers for God’s will to empower and guide everything we do. Prayers for wisdom and forgiveness when we fail to be what God calls us to be. It is prayer for the church to be the church and you to be an active and integral part of that local assembly. Not some ethereal entity, nor just a location to meet on a particular day of the week, but a vital people called out by God to love one another. The reign of God in the present, and the new people he has created, really do matter!

And with that said, time to get back to a book review on “Killing a Messiah” (good book, by the way) and studying for a final exam. But I’ll still be praying.