The Mysterious Ministry
Faith is a powerful, moving thing. Everyone has faith in something, regardless of their religious belief; however intense a dogma, the origination of it probably has a very sincere story. Those stories mean something to the people that went through them, and the results - the impressions of life - are entirely unique to each one of them. Some come out of those stories with a pen and paper in hand, ready to write the next chapter; others close the book and hope the story comes to an end; some go a different direction entirely. Some retread old ground and just repeat life the way they want it to be. But at the end of the day, all the storytellers have an honest faith in something. Even if they have faith in nothingness.
I'm a Christian man, and I believe in God. A majority of people I come in contact with on a daily basis do not agree with me. They often times very passionately disagree with me, actually. I could approach these people in a myriad of ways, bringing with my tactics the ferocity and passion one would expect from a conviction-driven man of God. I could preach love and forgiveness, the gospel and discipleship; I could quote scripture after scripture and talk for days on end about the grace and divinity of the creator I so passionately believe in.
But then the room would be quiet, everyone would feel awkward, and I would be judged in a very honest way by others. My words would be more condemning than inviting, and all because I told my own story rather than learn the stories of others.
People aren't like electronics. We all buy electronics because they change our lives. We buy phones for the endless amounts of convenience and functionality. We have legitimate uses for these things, and the investment is given back to us tenfold on a daily basis. The value of that product is important to us, because we invest this monetary thing into making it a reality. We take the money we work for and give it to some corporation, and in turn they give us shiny stuff. We like this stuff - for a while. Then it gets old, dented, scratched and worn. It starts to slow down and become a nuisance rather than a convenience. We start to find things to replace it with, until we finally do. Then, before we know it, we have new shiny stuff. We keep it until the sheen wears thin, the old gets tossed away, and the new comes in. It's consumerism, and it's how a majority of you reading this live. Right down from the cups you use for water, to the car you use to drive to work. Everything is replaceable.
People are not the same. People take time, effort, sincerity and a different kind of investment. The disconnect between us and "stuff" is only one thing: emotion. It just so happens that emotion is an incredibly intricate, diverse thing. If you want a new car, that's easy: go to a car dealership. There isn't a "friend dealership" anywhere. You could consider college the closest thing, or maybe a socially integrated work environment; but nothing we can do will force an organic connection between mortal life forms. People need sincere amounts of time to find connection before they really decide to invest in someone.
So let's go back to the 'stuff' conversation, just for a moment. What if you were buying a house, and you just began looking. You go into a Real Estate office and ask for an agent. Immediately that agent decides to make assumptions about your living situation, the proper location for your home, and automatically assumes your budget. He or she starts rattling off all kinds of numbers and figures, showing you pictures and places and options and countertops and carpets and garages and oh my gosh what's happening right now?!
You don't want to buy a house from this person; after what you just went through, you don't want to talk about houses at all. You want to run away as fast as you can in the opposite direction, then maybe revisit the conversation later. But there is one thing you won't be doing: going back to that Real Estate office. The sad part is simple: it might have had access to the perfect house, but you will never know because of one awful experience.
How often have you been the Real Estate agent to an atheist when talking about your faith? How often do we make assumptions, just applying what we know to what we think they should know because of our own story? How often do we skip their opportunity tell us - not that they don't believe in God - but why they don't believe in God? Remember: people aren't electronics. They do get old, and less shiny, and dented and scratched and everything in between, but they are never replaceable.
So if people are never replaceable, don't treat them like they aren't uniquely worth your attention.
So I am trying something new: the mysterious ministry. Telling my story to those who want to hear it, but not giving away free revelations as I do it. I give the folks around me the space to tell their own story as well. I invest, I give them time; I give them my own emotional vulnerabilities as a person, rather than slapping the "Christian" label for the sake of being politically marketed. At the end of the day, people don't care if you're a Christian. They care if you're a person worthwhile. If you take the time to show them you are, and that their story is worth hearing, then the Christian piece is probably going to be a much more organic conversation. It will be worth their time all of a sudden, because it's your story. It's your faith because of what you went through.
Don't treat people like your electronics. Just because they get older doesn't mean they become replaceable. We will never build an army of Christians, through love and encouragement, with aggressive recruitment strategies. We'll build an army through sincere developmental growth by listening. Christians don't listen enough, in my opinion. We talk and talk and talk. We're the Real Estate agent; we sell faith like it's an electronic device. Like it's the best consumer product for ones soul. It's not: it's a sincere emotional choice. It's faith.
Show them why you made that choice, then listen to why they didn't. They might actually consider changing their minds that way. It's very little about what you think is right, and very much about the path that brought you to that answer. The mysterious ministry: ministering to folks by listening, rather than preaching.
- Clay
I'm a Christian man, and I believe in God. A majority of people I come in contact with on a daily basis do not agree with me. They often times very passionately disagree with me, actually. I could approach these people in a myriad of ways, bringing with my tactics the ferocity and passion one would expect from a conviction-driven man of God. I could preach love and forgiveness, the gospel and discipleship; I could quote scripture after scripture and talk for days on end about the grace and divinity of the creator I so passionately believe in.
But then the room would be quiet, everyone would feel awkward, and I would be judged in a very honest way by others. My words would be more condemning than inviting, and all because I told my own story rather than learn the stories of others.
People aren't like electronics. We all buy electronics because they change our lives. We buy phones for the endless amounts of convenience and functionality. We have legitimate uses for these things, and the investment is given back to us tenfold on a daily basis. The value of that product is important to us, because we invest this monetary thing into making it a reality. We take the money we work for and give it to some corporation, and in turn they give us shiny stuff. We like this stuff - for a while. Then it gets old, dented, scratched and worn. It starts to slow down and become a nuisance rather than a convenience. We start to find things to replace it with, until we finally do. Then, before we know it, we have new shiny stuff. We keep it until the sheen wears thin, the old gets tossed away, and the new comes in. It's consumerism, and it's how a majority of you reading this live. Right down from the cups you use for water, to the car you use to drive to work. Everything is replaceable.
People are not the same. People take time, effort, sincerity and a different kind of investment. The disconnect between us and "stuff" is only one thing: emotion. It just so happens that emotion is an incredibly intricate, diverse thing. If you want a new car, that's easy: go to a car dealership. There isn't a "friend dealership" anywhere. You could consider college the closest thing, or maybe a socially integrated work environment; but nothing we can do will force an organic connection between mortal life forms. People need sincere amounts of time to find connection before they really decide to invest in someone.
So let's go back to the 'stuff' conversation, just for a moment. What if you were buying a house, and you just began looking. You go into a Real Estate office and ask for an agent. Immediately that agent decides to make assumptions about your living situation, the proper location for your home, and automatically assumes your budget. He or she starts rattling off all kinds of numbers and figures, showing you pictures and places and options and countertops and carpets and garages and oh my gosh what's happening right now?!
You don't want to buy a house from this person; after what you just went through, you don't want to talk about houses at all. You want to run away as fast as you can in the opposite direction, then maybe revisit the conversation later. But there is one thing you won't be doing: going back to that Real Estate office. The sad part is simple: it might have had access to the perfect house, but you will never know because of one awful experience.
How often have you been the Real Estate agent to an atheist when talking about your faith? How often do we make assumptions, just applying what we know to what we think they should know because of our own story? How often do we skip their opportunity tell us - not that they don't believe in God - but why they don't believe in God? Remember: people aren't electronics. They do get old, and less shiny, and dented and scratched and everything in between, but they are never replaceable.
So if people are never replaceable, don't treat them like they aren't uniquely worth your attention.
So I am trying something new: the mysterious ministry. Telling my story to those who want to hear it, but not giving away free revelations as I do it. I give the folks around me the space to tell their own story as well. I invest, I give them time; I give them my own emotional vulnerabilities as a person, rather than slapping the "Christian" label for the sake of being politically marketed. At the end of the day, people don't care if you're a Christian. They care if you're a person worthwhile. If you take the time to show them you are, and that their story is worth hearing, then the Christian piece is probably going to be a much more organic conversation. It will be worth their time all of a sudden, because it's your story. It's your faith because of what you went through.
Don't treat people like your electronics. Just because they get older doesn't mean they become replaceable. We will never build an army of Christians, through love and encouragement, with aggressive recruitment strategies. We'll build an army through sincere developmental growth by listening. Christians don't listen enough, in my opinion. We talk and talk and talk. We're the Real Estate agent; we sell faith like it's an electronic device. Like it's the best consumer product for ones soul. It's not: it's a sincere emotional choice. It's faith.
Show them why you made that choice, then listen to why they didn't. They might actually consider changing their minds that way. It's very little about what you think is right, and very much about the path that brought you to that answer. The mysterious ministry: ministering to folks by listening, rather than preaching.
- Clay
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