One of my joys as a father was taking my youngest son to the local library on a weekly basis for storytime. At storytime, there was often singing. One of the favorites was a song called “The Goldfish (Let’s Go Swimming).” It is a fun song with lots of activity: pretending to ride a bicycle, pretending to brush teeth, pretending to take a nap, pretending to take a shower, etc. Except, all of a sudden, the little fishes (toddlers) realize that they are FISH! They don’t do those sorts of things! They say, “Wait a Minute! We’re Fish! We don’t _________!” Then, we enter the refrain: Let’s Go Swimming!
I was having a conversation with a pastor friend of mine recently, and we got talking about pastoral roles and ministry giftings. My friend was claiming that certain ministry giftings that are thrown around in modern ministry contexts don’t actually have much Biblical basis, and likely aren’t actually meant to be spiritual gifts for the minister engaged in ministry.
The first passage that came to mind for us was in Acts chapter 6, where the apostles find themselves waiting on tables and taking care of concerns regarding the daily distribution of food. It’s like they had a moment of “Wait a Minute! We’re Apostles! We don’t wait on tables!” They proceeded to appoint leaders who are most appropriate for the specific needs of the food ministry within their community so that they could, “…devote [them]selves to prayer and to the ministry of the word,” (Acts 6:4, CSB).
I can recognize moments in my own ministry where I’ve had this same sort of moment. How often in ministry, as a youth pastor, have I found myself being an event planner? How often have I found myself being the IT department for the church? How often have I been asked to provide the youth as a workforce for projects that don’t need to happen? How often am I setting up chairs and tables for this or that event?
Here I need to clarify: I actually like setting up tables and chairs. I don’t like to sit still, and the idea of just sitting in an office all day sounds awful. I tend to do OK with computer and printer repair. I know that planning events with purpose is an essential part of building community. The youth greatly benefit from acts of service.
BUT…
But there are so many moments where I find myself doing things and say to myself, “Wait a minute! I’m a Pastor! I’m not an event planner, an IT professional, etc.!”
Pastors often find themselves in this situation. We are overwhelmed with needs. We see all the possibilities of what to do, to plan, to prepare for our churches and communities. We often have servant hearts and want to serve where it’s needed. We have been trained in many different models of ministry that incorporate aspects of leadership, vision casting, servanthood, community development, social media management, event planning, etc.
But what’s our calling?
The apostles recognized their primary calling: Prayer and Ministry of the Word. As apostles, it was theirs to listen to the Spirit and preach the Good News. As evangelists, Philip, Timothy, and Titus were engaged in proclaiming the Word, teaching the faith to the converts, and setting up the Christian community with elders and deacons (Abraham, William; Logic of Evangelism; pp. 50-58). And we could go on into other roles within the church (Pastors/Shepherds, Prophets, and Teachers). What we find again and again are variations of the same calling: Prayer and Ministry of the Word.
Have we forgotten our calling? Is that why we so easily find ourselves in activities beyond our calling? Have we forgotten why we are set aside by God for a purpose? Do we get discouraged or bored waiting for ‘results’? Do we distract ourselves into tangents of the work so that we can feel more productive?
To say it again differently, it is our calling to Practice Resurrection. If we are called out of darkness and into the kingdom of light, out of death and into life, out of the flesh and into the Spirit, then we have been called into a life of resurrection TODAY. NOW. HERE.
To Practice Resurrection is to acknowledge the calling we’ve received from God first and foremost as our primary directive. We don’t set the vision; the Spirit does, so pray and receive. We don’t lead the way; the Spirit does, so pray and follow. We don’t change people’s lives; God does, so attend to the ministry of the Word. We don’t develop the Christian community; God does, so attend to the ministry of the Word.
God is the one who resurrects. In the pastoral ministry, then, let us practice resurrection. Let us look around at our work and say, “Wait a minute! We’re Pastors!” And, let us begin to act like it, remaining faithful in the calling we have been given to “devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word,” (Acts 6:4, CSB).
Leave a Reply