Saturday, December 09, 2006

Things I wish they told me about life in Ministry
I wish they (meaning anyone) would have told me that people will kick you in the spiritual nuts. I wish they would have said that people will be lame and totally judgmental. I wish they would have mentioned that sometimes the decisions you make, whether good or bad, will cause people to leave the church. That wasn't a possibility I ever really considered before these past few months. I could never imagine someone saying to me, "You're the reason I'm not coming back." But it has happened to several times. Their reasons were no specific sin. I'm not cheating on my wife, addicted to coke, or running an illegal gambling racket. It's just me and the way I do things. This week, it was because I don't do a ski trip or that I'm not fun enough. Honestly, can people say the words, "church isn't fun enough" without realizing how ridiculous they sound? So, their moving to the big church 30 minutes away with the budget, programs, and of course $1200 ski trips.

So, I quit. If I am driving people away from the church, then the Christian thing for me to do is to leave the church right? Thankfully, I am not dumb enough to send my boss this letter. Thankfully, I am writing this about 2 days after I actually felt this way.

It hurts me to think that people do not value the relationships in the church or the heart of a church more than the "products" of the church. "What's in it for me?" Is never a question someone could have asked Jesus and gotten away with. He would have kicked them in their spiritual nuts and they would have loved Him for it...eventually.

5 Comments:

At 5:44 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

dude. thats wrong. its wrong that people leave the church for odd reasons like that. does anyone have any idea what Jesus life and the bible have to do with the church. i mean, there should be christians laughing at peoples statements like that, and then teaching them why that is not important. more times than not, especially todays churches, are swayed easily by those people. Jesus followers arent going to ski and play paint ball all the time. to be a disciple is hard shit.

 
At 7:41 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Does anyone have any idea what jesus life and the bible have to do with the church?"

Good question.... I honestly and seriously have no idea.

 
At 4:12 PM , Blogger Shane said...

Now that we have completely deconstructed stupid "Christians" where do we go from here? Do we tell them that they are stupid? That will get us fired. Do we let it go? That will just burn us out. How do we teach consumer-driven, money-hungry, please-me-first American Christians that Jesus was a lot more than ski trips and collecting cans for poor people we have never seen? We should probably drink coffee on Thursday at the birth place of Christianity...AGAPE COFFEE HAUS

 
At 12:26 AM , Blogger hoose said...

i'm starting to think maybe i'll be a dog minister. Who's more loyal than a dog? Besides, the discipline problems and such like peeing on the carpet can usually be solved by a little dog whispering. All the dog wants is for you to throw him a fricken bone and pet him. The best part is, a dog acts like a dog whether you're there or not. Of course, my dog eats his crap if he doesn't know we're watching. Maybe dogs aren't that different after all

 
At 12:37 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow this is powerful my brother. I am amazed to see how you have grown and put your heart out there for everyone to see.

When I served with you I always wondered what would happen to the youth if we didn't have trips or anything "fun" to do at MB.

All that fun stuff is like rice-a-roni. The ultimate door prize of the 70's game shows that everyone went home with. They ate it and forgot about it. Seriously, how many can even remember Stampede 1998 and what was learned there??

Kevin, you follow your heart and your convictions and God will bless you abundantly.

Most are there to win the true prize of the abundant life they can gain through Jesus Christ. You're there to share the word of God, if its not fun enough, just hand them a box of rice.

I love you brother. Lets meet soon.

-Mike

 

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