Warning, some spoiler alerts may be revealed in this blog entry!  

I am a big fan of Marvel movies, who, in the past have released such blockbusters like The Avengers, Thor 1 & 2, Ironman 1,2,3, Captain America and so on.  I wasn’t much of a comic book reader growing up so I didn’t know the ins and outs of the “Marvel universe”.  That being said, we went recently to see “Guardians of the Galaxy” in theaters because it came highly recommended, and we were not disappointed!  This action packed Marvel film takes place in a distant galaxy where many aliens coexist.  The main character, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is a human who, at the beginning of the film,  was at the deathbed of his mother.  His heart is broken and he carries with him a mixed tape that his mother made for him.  Long story short, he was abducted “from Earth at a young age“..he is now an “interstellar adventurer“, opportunist and currently a wanted criminal.  (IMBD Bio) 

It is a long, humor filled story as to how this ragtag team is assembled known as the “guardians of the galaxy” and they must face numerous challenges, especially internally among the group with struggles such as revenge, insecurity, greed, trust and arrogance.  These unlikely characters must work together to defeat a common enemy by the name of “Ronan 

the Accuser” of Kree and his villainous backer and destroyer of worlds – Thanos.  

Peter retrieves an ancient artifact only to discover it contains great power and is currently also being sought out by Ronan the Accuser and his thugs.   The humor in this film makes it fun to watch coupled with the numerous action sequences.  I especially enjoyed the characters that make up the Guardians, especially two in particular by the name of Rocket and Groot.  

Rocket is a Raccoon like intelligent creature who was experimented on.  He struggles with insecurities of who is, yet is extremely cunning and intelligent.  He is the orchestrator of plans and the builder of unique and dangerous weapons.  His partner and “muscle” (Groot) is a tree-like creature who can extend his limbs to fight and to defend.  He can only utter three words “I Am Groot”…which the other team members interpret into rather humorous responses during the film.

3 Poignant Lessons:
1. Leadership – Although this movie is an action-packed film about super-heroes and villains it certainly does not start out that way.  Quill is an opportunist just out to make some money.  His character seems very selfish and ego driven…though he carries with him the scars of his mother’s death in the form of his tape player and her mixed tape that she made for him.  You want to cheer for him and he is a spectacular example of an imperfect hero with many flaws.   Putting these flaws aside Quill becomes a fearless leader of the Guardians as they seek to save mankind from Ronan and ultimately Thanos.  

2. Revenge never pays – Drax is the muscle bound, red tatooed, revenge seeking Guardian.  He signs on with the team in order to kill Ronan who slaughtered his family.  Drax doesn’t really care about the others at first and only seeks to fill his blood lust by any means possible without consequences or how it will impact those around him.  He learns some lesson the hard way in this film and becomes a true friend to the other team members within the Guardians.  

3.  Unity, Love & Sacrifice  – Groot, at one point saves the entire team from destruction by sacrificing his own life.  The ship is crashing to earth and he unfurles his limbs to become a sphere of protection around the other Guardians.  In doing so Rocket yells at Groot with tears in his eyes and says “don’t do it Groot, you will die!” at which point Groot declares boldly “We are Groot” and then proceeds to save them all from death by sacrificing himself.  To me this was startling, yet poignant lesson of team work, love and sacrifice that should speak to our hearts.  I saw almost a Christ-like sacrifice that Groot displayed for others as he was willing to lay down his life to save the team.  

My recommendation:
Go see “The Guardians of the Galaxy”.  The Guardians are imperfect, far from spectacular and yet display the best of humanity in their team work, love and ultimately willingness to sacrifice themselves to save others.  In my opinion, it is the must see movie of a quickly fading summer! 

Just something more to ponder here at pastorsponderings.org

Is It More Than A Paycheck?

The mission of The Salvation Army requires more than just employees.  Don’t misunderstand me, we need workers who can perform vital tasks within our army but my fear is that we are creating professional places of employment and no longer cultivating warriors who are mission minded.  Is it wrong to draw a salary from our army?  Of course not!  Though there is the danger of hiring personnel based solely on their skill set.  Skill sets are wonderful and we should utilize these abilities in our army but what happens if we only hire individuals based solely on their ability to perform these tasks while they have no love or passion for our mission?  

Making it personal:

I remember the days when I used to punch a clock while being employed by the Army.  I must confess that I too viewed my position as a place of employment and not where my heart met a godly mission and purpose.  It happens more than we think.  Dare I say that we (the army) sometimes employ families  who merely “go into the family business” and perhaps it is more out of convenience than it is about passion.  I do not begrudge this.  For years I had to sort this out in my own life as well.  I am a fourth generation salvationist and a fourth generation officer…did that mean that I signed up out of “convenience”?  Thankfully the answer in my case is “no”.  I could have found a more lucrative, gainful employment somewhere else following college graduation.  I could have done other things, but I felt a call to minister within our army.  Was it a lifetime call?  Perhaps that’s a conversation for another time…but I have been called here and now to be more than just an employee of The Salvation Army.  If there comes a day when I am simply here for the paycheck and the benefits and have no love for our mission then it is time for me to pack it in and move on.  God forbid if we have only employees in our army!  Employees only fulfilling their job descriptions and nothing more.  Employees who are not mission bound but paycheck and position bound.  Employees who hardly ever (if at all) actively engage in Kingdom building within our army.  

I quit being an employee of our army years ago.  I didn’t sign up to draw a paycheck or sit in a nice office with a window view. There has to be something more than this.  There needs to be heart and passion and mission that coincide with our spirits and prompts us to fight for souls of men and women for the glory of God!  If this last element is missing (for the glory of God) we could lose everything within our army.  If we do not keep our mission ever in focus…if we do not continue to fight for the souls of men and women…if we do not actively engage in our corps, divisional offices and territorial offices for His glory, we will have lost everything and just become “employees” in just another social service organization.  God forbid that ever happens.  Don’t be employees…be mission workers, be passionate soldiers of Christ, be compassionate dispensers of God’s grace, be warriors of God…don’t just be employees of The Salvation Army.  

Something more for our Army world to ponder today…to God be the glory!  

Questions:
Do we as an army for God work within the mainframe of grace and reconciliation?  How do we bring back into the fold those who have broken rank and have gone AWOL?  

Braking Ranks:

There are many reasons that officers and soldiers brake rank and depart.  Some leave for other opportunities that, I believe, the Lord makes available for them.  Some burn out and because of frustrations they leave our ranks in search of rest that perhaps wasn’t offered where they were stationed.  Others leave for moral or ethical reasons.  All of these reasons are sad to our army.  We need soldiers and officers of this army who will fight despite the circumstances, but we also need leaders in our army who are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and will lovingly employ pastoral care upon those who are truly hurting and struggling.  

Pastoral Care:

It is not enough to have a small handful of officers at territorial headquarters to minister to the vast ministries of hundreds of officers on the field.  Nor is it enough to claim places like officer’s councils (twice a year) and pilgrimage (for soldiery) enough of a healing balm to weary souls.  These are wonderful elements of pastoral care, but they are not enough.  Sometimes, dare I say, these are merely used as stop-gaps yet underlying hurts and true shepherding is forgotten along the way.  This is usually unintentional because many leaders are “too busy” due to over worked schedules.  If I can be honest for a moment though, we need something more than what is already available to officers and soldiers in regards to pastoral care.  We need to spend more money if needed.  We need to employ more officers and staff within the realms of pastoral care.  If our army is serious about caring for those within its ranks, please take this seriously.  I am not negating the effectiveness of the few who are already within this area of ministry (pastoral care departments – if there is one in your territory), but there are far too few in number.  

Secondly, it is not enough to employ/outsourced psychologists to conduct tests on those who are hurting to see if they are “fit for duty”.  These services are excellent when one is seeking professional counseling (which is at times necessary) and we are grateful for these helps, but who does the shepherd turn to when they need someone to talk to and perhaps an ear to listen without fear of repercussions or divulging of information shared.  It is not that we mistrust leadership but shepherds are there to guide and to lead but if the leader is hurting or burned out perhaps don’t just move them or appoint them to a place with less stress – here is a novel concept – Talk to them and listen to their needs.   I don’t mean to be critical here today but pastoral ministry should not be a last resort or a responsive action, it should be a first priority and a proactive ministry to its ranks.  I believe far too long we have operated within a reactionary place which is more of a knee-jerk response instead of an intentional, loving concern for those who serve.  

Leadership: please don’t misunderstand what I am saying.  I am not implying you do not love those you lead, but I am saying there is room to improve must be room to improve!  Lip service can take the form of “I hear what you’re saying” yet no action is ever taken to adjust, modify, restructure the foundation because it can and will upset the status quo right now.  

What do I know…I’m only a Captain in this very large ship that is The Salvation Army…but from where I stand, sometimes officers and soldiers are just numbers instead of people.  The reaction to a dip in statistics becomes “Officers what’s going on in your corps?  Why are the stats down?” or “Women’s ministries secretary, why are there less women in your women’s ministries group?  Why are the stats down?”    Sometimes we minister through the famine days as well as the seasons of feasts.  We must recognize that people are people and we ought to love and serve them with our full efforts and compassion through ministry of the Holy Spirit.  

Pastoral Care Recommendation:
(Again, what do I know but here’s a suggestion, which is more than just criticism but I hope and pray a construction suggestion because I want to succeed in ministry and I know we all do too)
Here are Three Recommendations to truly allow pastoral care to become proactive and more effective:

1) Employ Divisional Pastoral Care Teams (not just Territorial ones):
This isn’t about micromanaging officers or corps, but rather caring leaders determined to improve the mission through healthy, shepherding and love.  Pastoral teams who will spend time with officers not because it’s in the calender or because its mandated but because they want to fellowship with other officers and show support and concern.  Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying Divisional Officers don’t love those they serve currently, because that is not the case, but if we had a team of pastoral care officers devoted to the concerns and needs of shepherding officers on the field I believe we would see not only a higher morale but more effective ministries going on.  Officers and soldiers need to feel needed and loved.  They need to know they have support no matter how near or far their appointments are for their headquarters.  A Divisional Pastoral Care Team would be immediate, confidential, and provide an additional resource to not only officers and soldiers on the field but to divisional leaders.  

2) A Sabbatical Provision For Officers:
Currently if an Officer told their leadership that they would like to take a sabbatical from their appointment they would be met with questions like “Are you resigning?  Are you questioning your call as an Officer? Are you dealing with sin?”  The thought of providing something other than furlough to Officers who need triage to their spirits seems almost alien to our army world.  I don’t wish to peer over the proverbial fence here but there are many churches who employ the use of a sabbatical so that their pastors can recharge, reconnect with their spouses, find rest and rediscover their heart for ministry.  What damage would it do to consider such a provision?  Could we prevent some of the losses within our ranks if this were in place?  Perhaps even a territorial sabbatical place of rest could be assigned…more to ponder…

3) Team Leadership Appointments:

I recognize not all personalities can work together in ministry, but wouldn’t it be more effective to have numerous couples working in the same appointment?  I know that immediately some would consider the cost of such a venture, but what would the return on this kind of investment be?  Currently already within the USA in the Kroc Centers teams of Officers already work together, but what about within the standard corps setting?  Wouldn’t we be more equipped within a carefully structured partnership team?  I don’t mean a Corps Officer and an Assistant or an Associate Officer but I mean co-leaders, co-ministers together.  Perhaps in this way the burden can be jointly carried and also fellowship and healthy accountability can take place.  This type of model would not be easy to maintain and constant retooling would have to happen, but if the goal within mission was kept as the priority and everyone could extinguish egos, perhaps this type of team ministry could work.  

Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing:

The mission of our Army should always, ever be at the forefront of what and who we are.
Secondly though, we must  be proactive in caring for our ranks of officers and soldiers.  We need the able body, the healthy body of Christ in order to meet human needs in His name!  We need each other to prevent attrition in our ranks.  We need to know leadership truly cares for those they lead.  We need more servant leaders to assist in this modification to make our mission more effective.  With healthy pastoral care tools in place, more than we have now, we can help some (not all) of the issues we are currently facing when we consider the “breaking of ranks”.  

“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” 1 John 3:17

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

Just something more for our Army to ponder today!