Ok, so you might be thinking that the term "out of the box" has been severely overused. I agree, yet I have no other way to describe it. Maybe "out of the bag" or "beyond the norm". Whatever.
In recent days, I've been really thinking about ministry. You see, I'm not involved in any sort of formal ministry. Sure, I teach Sunday school on occasion, and fill in here and there for random church events, but this has been the longest time in my Christian walk that I haven't been actively serving in a formal setting. It can be slightly disheartening because you are stuck with all of the legwork. Also though it's rewarding to be able to do ministry without the sometimes present "Church red tape".
However, I also believe that if you're committed to ministry, then you don't necessarily need the structure of a church setting. In fact, sometimes serving in in the church is the most constricting place to serve. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't serve in the church (I am no advocate for a Christian "bra-burning" of sorts) In fact, I believe that as the body of Christ, we should be serving in our home church. I just think that we've been given individual gifts that we can use outside of our church box. Here are some reasons I believe why serving outside of the church is a good thing.
1. The constrictions of Church ministry.
On occasion, you may be serving in a place where there are so many restrictions as to how you can serve, that your gifts can't be used to the fullest. For instance, in no fault of the churches, we're in a economic downfall, and churches just don't have the funds to pay for all of the creative ministry ideas people have. So many people just give up. I say if you're creative enough to come up with a good idea, then you could probably come up with a way to raise funds for it. In addition, when you get financial backing from an organization, you're required to allow them some input. Considering people (even Christians) don't always see eye to eye, if you really want to be able to do things that way you think they'll work the best, then unless you share the same vision of the representing party of the church, maybe you should do it yourself.
2. A lot of Church leaders are still inside the box.
I'm blessed to be a part of a church where the leaders are pretty creative about ministry. However, even I have experienced my share of "interesting" views. I was once invited to be a part of a class about the way to lead others to Christ. I attended one class. Basically it was "seek out non-Christians", "Share 4 spiritual laws", "ask if they were going to die tonight, where they would go", "invite them to church", "Ask if you can pray for them". To pass the class you had to lead two people to Christ. Uh, no! Sorry, but I don't force the gospel on people. This is not 1971 anymore where you can show a scary rapture movie, and have everyone come to Christ. People want to see the way you live, want to be cared about, want to be loved... no strings attached. Not even to lead them to Christ. If we're living the way we are suppose to be living, we won't have to do very much formal preaching. If people have questions, I'll gladly answer, but I just try to focus on loving people.
3. We lock ourselves in the box by not accurately assessing our gifts.
I've always been involved in youth ministry. It just always seemed like a natural fit for me. It was just the other night that I realized why. God has given me a personality that attracts that age. Matt and I were at a wedding on new years eve. We went to sit down with a friend, and slowly but surely our table was filled to capacity with Jr. high kids. At first I wondered if I mistakenly sat at the kids table, but I soon realized that they just wanted to sit with us (I hope that doesn't sound cocky, I don't mean it that way). Some of the kids I knew, but there were a few I had never met. We had a blast with them! I just think that we need to see what we're good at, and do that. I'm good at relating to Jr. high and high schoolers. Even though I'm not serving in the youth department at our church, I can still take a kid out to lunch, or provide a listening ear. Don't just rely on those "spiritual gifts tests" that churches are pushing. It's possible that you might have a gift so "out-of-the-box" or even something so common that it's not listed there. There are needs everywhere! Even if you think your gift is small, it usually means something to someone!
4. Because in church, you're usually serving fellow Christians.
Not that we shouldn't take care of our brothers and sisters, we should come together a love each other. I'm just saying that there is a whole world out there beyond the people who attend church. I recently attended a Sara Groves concert. She talked about reading a book by Gary Haugen, the CEO of the International Justice Mission. He has seen the worst of the worst of social injustice. she shared this quote from him, and it gave me chills; 'I used to ask, "Where is God?" Now my plea is, "Where are God's people?"' How true is that?? I'll never forget that story because it hit me so hard. We're so comfy in our shiny, happy communities, that sometimes we simply forget the world full of people that have never been served at all.
5. Because Jesus was always on the outside of the box.
Seriously, I don't remember a time in the Bible where Jesus did what people expected him to do. If Jesus was hanging out inside of the box, then he wouldn't have had much impact. Instead, he did the exact opposite of what people expected him to do. Sleeping through the storm, making mud out of spit and rubbing it in blind eyes, breaking all the "rules". Yet he was perfect. Everything he did was memorable.
My point is that we can't put limits on ourselves. Sometimes you have to "break the mold" and "reinvent the wheel". It doesn't mean the old wheel is no longer useful, it just means that we can use our own individual gifts to serve. It means we can be creative. I mean, take a look at the new generation of Christians. I'm so proud of all of the fun, "abnormal" ways people are making an impact in the kingdom!
1 comment:
Do me a favor and ignore the fact that I did very little proof-reading here. :-)
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