Who Cares?

Does Jesus care? I know He cares. One of the most crucial aspects of ministry is caring for people. As a minister of the Gospel and to the church, we will encounter people in all of life’s transitions. Bringing the peace of God to people whose lives may be in pieces is an important way of ministering to those and sharing God’s love. There are times when we may find ourselves in a position to minister in a way that is unique and needed.

The nature of humanity, when things go wrong, is to ask, “Why?” The temptation for ministers is to attempt to come up with the answer to this question as well as a flood of others that come about. It is often simply the ministry of presence, support and encouragement that is most meaningful in times of need. We are called to rejoice together, grieve together, mourn together and weep together. Most of the time, people aren’t looking for the perfect word. A time will come later for making sense of things and for Theological discovery. Often, we should simply see a need and address it. The knowledge that the people of God are there to offer that support goes a long way. The overflow of love that abounds when we are doing God’s work for God’s children in times of need is a tool more powerful than we could ever imagine.

Tending the flock and keeping up with the health and well being of God’s children is a daunting task. It would be very easy to become wrapped up in helping others. After all, it is generally a love for people and a desire to help that calls us to ministry in the first place. We must not forget to tend to the flock that lives in our homes. We cannot cultivate and repair holy marriages if we have not done so with our own. We cannot mend family relations if we have refused to maintain our own. We must be focused on what God has entrusted to us in our immediate families as a launching point to addressing what God has entrusted to us in our church families.

Action or Image

Andre Agassi said, “Image is everything.” More recently, Kobe Bryant said, “Image is nothing. Thirst is everything. Obey your thirst.” I am pretty sure that Kobe would now say that image is not nothing. What we do and what we say does not seem to be nearly as important to the public as what it appears we said and did. It also seems that the media holds celebrities to a higher level of scrutiny. Every indiscretion and misstep is magnified, photographed, discussed, and solved in magazines and on television. However, the level of disappointment and dissatisfaction seems to be lacking. In fact, we are more surprised when a celebrity lives a clean life than when one falls into an abusive relationship with people, substances or indiscretions.

When it comes to people of “the cloth” – ministers – men and women who have chosen to work in the church as a profession, there seems to be a shift in the level of dismay. There is a greater expectation that comes with the scrutiny of the public eye. Unfortunately, the level of shock decreases with every man and woman directly affiliated with church leadership that takes a public hit. At first glance of such a sight, the immediate reaction is a feeling of unfair treatment. Why should I, as a minister in the church, be held to a different level of expectation than any other human that walks this Earth? I am, after all, just a human. I make mistakes like everyone else. People have to understand that. Contrary to popular belief, I am not perfect. (Gasp, Look of shock, surprise and amazement!!)

But, alas, the public unknowingly expresses the same sentiment that God does. James 3.1 says that those who teach will be judged more strictly. Because of the position of leadership entrusted to us and the impact that we have on the paths of faith for those who trust in our teaching, we must be keenly aware of the image we are displaying. As a prophet of God, the mouthpiece of God or the face of the church (whether rightly or wrongly so, it is often the case)we must not only be aware of not only what we say and do, but what our actions and words appear to communicate to the public. There are many things that are not, in and of themselves wrong, but have to be avoided as a leader in God’s church because of the image it portrays and projects onto the church and the body of Christ. We must always be aware of the impact we have on the image the church we serve, the people who follow us, and what our actions say to those who trust in our choices and discretion.