I once read this in an obituary and I thought it was beautiful.
God saw you getting tired, when a cure was not to be.
He wrapped his arms around you and whispered, "Come to Me."
In tears we saw you sinking. We watched you fade away.
Our hearts were broken, as you fought so hard to stay.
But when we saw you sleeping so peacefully free from pain
We could not wish you back to suffer so again.
So keep your arms around him God, and give him special care,
Make up for all he suffered and all that seemed unfair.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Uninterested and Interested
Pastor Michael wrote an interesting article called "Dropping the Rope, Holding Hands, And Learning To Walk Together." It talks about uninterested parishioners*, flawed perceptions and the struggles of a pastor.
How do ministry workers handle the interested and the uninterested? From experience, these are the few ways I've observed.
1. Forget about the uninterested. They are wasting my time. Give 100% to those who are interested.
2. "Pull" the uninterested, give them 90% attention and 10% to those interested. After all, the interested ones will not become uninterested or grow cold.
3. Do nothing about both. I'm too busy. The interested will come to me, and the uninterested ones won't. So I let them decide.
All of the above are not ideal. The 1st one has effectively shut out the uninterested who might in time become interested. The 2nd one thinks that spending more time equals to getting uninterested parishioners more interested but this usually does not happen. And it's bad to assume the neglected interested ones will keep going; they can drop off the radar (we're humans!). The 3rd one can't be bothered with both.
So what is the ideal? I like what Pastor Michael said. "I will care and give correct spiritual guidance to both the interested and the uninterested. I will never be so far out front that I waste effort on the truly uninterested, but I will stay engaged (appropriately so) to see when the spark of interest ignites" It's a good balance which every minister need to take heed of. And to always pray for the uninterested because that's the only thing that really works for them.
I think Jesus gives us a perfect picture of the balance. Ask yourself, "What Will Jesus Do?"(WWJD) when you look at your church - the interested, uninterested, the good, the bad and the ugly and oh, that includes you too :)
*Parishioner = another term for Church member, churchgoer
How do ministry workers handle the interested and the uninterested? From experience, these are the few ways I've observed.
1. Forget about the uninterested. They are wasting my time. Give 100% to those who are interested.
2. "Pull" the uninterested, give them 90% attention and 10% to those interested. After all, the interested ones will not become uninterested or grow cold.
3. Do nothing about both. I'm too busy. The interested will come to me, and the uninterested ones won't. So I let them decide.
All of the above are not ideal. The 1st one has effectively shut out the uninterested who might in time become interested. The 2nd one thinks that spending more time equals to getting uninterested parishioners more interested but this usually does not happen. And it's bad to assume the neglected interested ones will keep going; they can drop off the radar (we're humans!). The 3rd one can't be bothered with both.
So what is the ideal? I like what Pastor Michael said. "I will care and give correct spiritual guidance to both the interested and the uninterested. I will never be so far out front that I waste effort on the truly uninterested, but I will stay engaged (appropriately so) to see when the spark of interest ignites" It's a good balance which every minister need to take heed of. And to always pray for the uninterested because that's the only thing that really works for them.
I think Jesus gives us a perfect picture of the balance. Ask yourself, "What Will Jesus Do?"(WWJD) when you look at your church - the interested, uninterested, the good, the bad and the ugly and oh, that includes you too :)
*Parishioner = another term for Church member, churchgoer
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