Well I have realized my first soapbox; it came to me as I was sitting in one of my many meetings that I sit through in a given week and it hits me. As I work in the full time ministry we encounter a lot of people that would like us to partner with them in doing whatever it is that they do. And it never fails during the pitch that this person is making I hear the dreaded phrase: "We need to be doing this" or "This needs to happen!"
Now to be fair these are generally good hearted people that are very passionate about what it is that God has called them to do and I don't fault them for that. The problem for me is what I will call the "Need" mentality with God. It is that thing people in church do when they unknowingly want to guilt people into showing up to something by telling them that they need to do it. Suddenly everything becomes top priority and everything needs to get done. Regardless of what your calling, passion, or talents are you really need to be doing this thing over here. I remember one such meeting a few months ago there were no less than five different people that were presenting their ministry and wouldn't you know it, I needed to be involved in every single one.
The main thing that bothers me about this mentality is it's underlying logical inconsistency. If everyone needed to do this one thing then who would do all the other things that need to get done. The second thing that I find troubling is the emphasis that it puts on performance rather than enjoyment. I believe that we are the best examples of Christ's love when we are carried by it and strengthened by His power rather than our own. When we as believers can exist out of the freedom and love that Christ bestows we can then be an unstoppable force. How much better does that sound than dutifully showing up to a banquet or function because we feel like it would make us bad Christians. Now I do not intend to invoke the theology of Freedom in Christ to alleviate us from any and all hard work or responsibility. In fact I believe that it would be just the opposite. When you are passionate about something then there is no stopping you or I from achieving an objective. It is out of freedom that you will pour out countless hours and resources in order the make happen what needs to get done. It is only when we are obligated under the pretense of need that we will only ever do enough just to get by. It is like being at a wedding where no one agrees that the couple should be getting married. It is quick routine and polite and sadly nothing more.
This is not my ideal for ministry or Christian life. So in order to validate my point even further I did a search on biblegateway.com for the word need in the same context as has been used here and this is the result that came up: Exodus 14:14 :The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
Ouch
A great family with better stories...
5 comments:
Nice. I also hate it when people claim that "God is telling" or that "God needs" and then two months later "God" is saying or doing something different. It is very hard to teach someone their need for something. I think the word "need" gets misused, but there are some things that we do "need". We need to be obedient, we need to worship, we need to fear the Lord. But, how do you teach someone to need these things without giving them responsibilities that, in the end, don't help them because they just did what they were told. That's why I like both the scripture and the name of your blog "calvin's closet". God "needs" to do the work, not us.
one more thing:
you used the word "need" in that last post almost as much as rick warren used the word "purpose" in every page of his book!
Love that post man. As I grow as a minister and as a christian I see so much more need for less programs, and more relationships. True needs (the things we must do) are met by people that are close to the person of need, not by organized programs and ministries. And while these types of things can serve a purpose we must focus much more on "who we are" verses "what we can do" because when we know who we are called to be and who we are called to, what we do out of that will be of much greater impact than if we skip the first step and simply "do". Skipping the "who you are" factor means that what you spend your time "doing" will be much more temporary than eternal.
are you gonna stand on anymore soapboxes soon?
monday morning blog check!
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