I've often heard that sometimes ministry just looks different on the world race. Well, this would be one of those weeks when ministry has just looked "different".
One of my New Year Resolutions of 2011 was to read through the bible throughout the next year. Before I left for the race, I bought a life application study bible because I had been visiting with a friend who had one and I literally fell in love with it. It was a new way of reading God's word that I direly needed in my life. This bible was probably the best thing I brought with me on the race.
Through this past week of ministry just looking "different", I've had a lot of down time to just spend with the Lord. I finished reading through Nehemiah which literally rocked my world. Nehemiah's faith in leading the troops to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and just seeing his obedience to the Lord through it all challenged me to not only follow in his leadership ways, but I now view leadership in and of itself, differently. Four things that I took away from this book in light of leadership is to have a clear purpose and keep evaluating it in light of God’s will, be straightforward and honest, live above reproach, and to be a person of constant prayer, deriving power and wisdom from your contact with God.
My most favorite recent read was Philemon. I want to share a little with you about what I learned through reading this book in the bible:
The book of Philemon was written by Paul to Philemon about one of his slaves, Onesimus, that had escaped. In Onesimus’ escape, he ran into Paul, who was preaching the gospel. Onesimus responded and accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Paul told Onesimus that he had to go back to Philemon. In this letter, Paul asked Philemon to forgive Onesimus for all that he had done; for running away, stealing, and deserting him. Paul asked Philemon to simply “accept” Onesimus once again.
Paul interceeded for Onesimus here, just like Christ interceeds for us. Paul told Philemon if Onesimus had “done you wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me” (vs. 18).
A few things about this book stood out to me. Three major themes from my study bible are, forgiveness, barriers, and respect. If I’ve learned anything while on the World Race thus far it is that Christian relationships must be full of forgiveness and acceptance. We all must live in a world filled with grace freely flowing in all directions. The more grace we’re willing to extend to our brothers and sisters, the more grace we’re likely to receive. In Christ we are all one family and barriers or walls should be non-existant. I am convicted of this often. I must continuously surrender it to the Lord and allow Him to break down those walls. As Paul presented the case to Philemon about Philemon’s own slave, in which case, Philemon had some authority to do whatever he wanted to Onesimus, if he wanted to punish him for running away, he could. However, Paul presented everything to Philemon with the utmost respect and love. Tactful persuasion accomplishes much more than commanding people to do things. It is true that how we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ’s family reflects our true Christian commitment. It is my hope that I can love, honor, and respect my brothers and sisters in the way that Christ calls me to everyday. Too often our relationships, especially within the Church, don’t posses “true” partnership, but reflect a mere “tolerance” of one another. This is another thing that I am greatly convicted of. I pray boldly in the name of Jesus that I won’t merely “tolerate” my peers but I can love them recklessly and radically.
“Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good – no longer a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother” (vs. 15-16). The gospel begins to change social structures by changing the people within those structures.
This study bible is really good at asking challenging questions that make me think deeply, not only about my relationship with the Lord, but also with the world. Two lasting thoughts/impressions that I’ve been processing through are:
1. Are you a refreshing influence on others or does your attitude/temperament add to the burden they carry? Instead of draining others’ energy and motivation with complaints and problems, replenish their spirits by encouragement, love, and a helpful attitude.
2. When God finds runaways, he often sends them back to the very places and people from which they ran in the first place. Remember, God is in the radical forgiveness business. We cannot run from God and hope to escape.
The past few days my ministry has changed from the people of the dump to my team to now my own personal relationship with the Lord. I'm thankful to be going through this process of learning what's it's like to be a self-feeder. I'm thankful that ministry sometimes "looks different". Now I can be more accepting rather than continually being disappointed when things "look different". I'm thankful for my team and where God has us right now. Keep praying for us :]
