A Humble Prayer:
Can we but find our hope today?
Oh Lord we need but stop and pray.
Our lives ,so full of cares and woe
Speak to us now, Your love to show.
Give ears to hear your Heart
to shed Your love to all empart
grant us peace amidst these storms
denying self our hearts conformed.
Please lead us when we are blind
our hand in yours and we will find
this Holiness, your grace, your light
Your strength, your peace will give us sight.
-Amen
I’ve been looking at the painting. I’m mesmerized by it. Have you ever studied a painting? Have you looked closely at the details? The brush strokes? The unspoken drama captured in a mere moment? Look at the waves, how they list back and forth, how they swell to a crescendo and fall back down again. It’s almost as if you can watch them in their lunar symphonic dance. As I look into this painting I see so much of me. I see evidence of my doubt, evidence of my fears and evidence of my lack of strength. I see me drowning there, not just Peter. I see what could happen if I fall down into the depths of this flowing tide. The water filling up my lungs. The panicked shock becoming reality. My feeble life flashing before my eyes. I can imagine it…can you?
As I look at this painting, a story we’ve all heard before while sitting in those stiff backed, wood-oil scented pews that creak when you shift positions…the story of Peter walking on the water with Jesus. We’ve heard the details of this story. How Peter saw Jesus walking towards them and cried out to Him, “Lord if it is really you call me to come out there with you…and Jesus said ‘Come'” (Matthew 14:22-33). So Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking towards Jesus on the water. You see we often stop here in this story and think to ourselves “wait for the ‘but'” and we call this Peter’s doubting moment because he looked down, because he became frightened, because he took his eyes off of Jesus. But what we often fail to look at within this story and it’s evident in this painting is that Peter got out of the boat…but where were the rest of the disciples? Where did they remain? In the boat. If we look real closely they are way off in the foreground standing in the boat safe and sound but did they believe as Peter had? Did they climb out of the boat with him? No.
Another thing that really hits home to me that is portrayed in this painting is the juxtaposition of his friends and peers in the boat as opposed to where Peter is located. No, not just because of their doubt but because of their distance. When Peter needed his friends and his peers the most they were too far away to help him. He was well out of their reach to throw any kind of life saving device towards his sinking soul. As I stare into this painting I begin to understand something that I didn’t before. Perhaps I knew it to be true, but only in the back of my mind. Here’s the truth: Our friends, comrades in arms, loved ones and peers cannot save us all of the time. There are times when faith takes us out further than perhaps others are willing or called to go. Faith takes us into deeper waters where we have to find out for ourselves that not only is our strength not enough but our faith must be increased so that Jesus can save us. It’s not about being better than our friends or our loved ones, it’s not about being more holy but God calls each of us to different waters. So when we step out of our boats as Peter did we will find ourselves at times to be all alone on those waters without the support of other believers near us.
Staring again at this painting I am struck by how the painter illustrates the expression that Jesus has on his face. If someone lets you down what might your expression be? One of disappointment? One of anger? One of dismay? To me, Jesus doesn’t seem to have any of these expressions on His face. Instead He appears concerned, lovely so as He stoops down to pluck Peter from the depths. Notice too that Jesus doesn’t grasp onto Peter’s slipper, wet fingers. Instead He grasps Peter by the wrist. What this says to me is that Jesus knows. He knows that Peter can’t pull himself up out of these circumstances. He knows that Peter’s strength have given way to doubt, shock and fear. Jesus knows and so He pulls Peter up by his wrist and in so saying ‘My strength is enough, let me be your salvation’.
I am Peter in the waters from time to time. I am being choked by the lapping waters as I gasp for another breath. I am given over to fears and doubts and I cannot save myself. I look for my friends and for my peers but they are too far from me. Yet Jesus is there willing and able to rescue me…again. He grasps onto my wrist and says to me ‘My love, my strength, my courage, my grace, my hope…is enough!’
Today I don’t know what kind of waters you’re walking on in faith, but I do know one thing Jesus is there! Though our faith may take us out deeper than we’ve ever gone before, though we find it difficult or impossible to walk alone…Jesus is there! Trust Him today! Trust His strength. Trust that He will never abandon you or be too far away to rescue you. When you find yourself far from the saving mercies of other Christians, look up and find the One who has paid it all grasping onto your wrist and saving you through His strength and grace.
Sometimes it’s hard to be
As meek as lambs
When the wolves are circling
Sometimes it’s hard to be light
And Show this love
When the daggers are out.
Would someone please
Protect my back
I’m under attack
No support for me this time
Can’t you read between the lines.
Sometimes all hope
Seems to break away
When these tongues are wagging
Sometimes I forgot In whom I serve
Lord I’m blinded by this mess
all these saints are dragging
Would someone please
Boldly step up
I feel as If alone
Where are my brothers in arms
When the saints become the curse?
Help me Christ my solid rock
For I feel I’m sinking quick
These sinners saved by grace
Seem to only save themselves
this hurt has made me sick.
But Your hand, your hand is reaching
And Your love, Your love is soothing
You give me strength when no one else can
You give me hope, Your solid rock I stand!
Jesus got up from the table. Isn’t that unusual for Master of ceremonies to do? He got up. He had been reclined, as they did in those days. There wasn’t a wooden table and chairs as we’re so traditionally used to. He had been enjoying a meal with His disciples. There had been some banter back and forth, some laughter over a good cooked meal. Isn’t that how bonds, throughout time, have been further deepened? Over a meal, together, they bonded, they shared, they loved. Then Jesus got up. What was He about to do? The room was slightly stuffy, and getting warmer. There was a humidity in the air which matched the body heat of those gathered there. As each disciple had eaten their share of the food and had drunken a share of the wine, Jesus did not rest. He didn’t find the nearest lazy boy chair to recline in. He didn’t make his disciples go and do the dishes. He didn’t rest. Instead, He got up and after wrapping a towel around His waist, He filled a basin full of water. The disciples were caught off guard. Some were still chewing the last bits of food and draining their cups of the last drops of wine. Glances were exchanged, expressions of bewilderment and surprise replaced the revelry of celebration.
Having wrapped the towel around His waist and poured the water into the basin, Jesus begins to display for His disciples what a true discipleship looks like: a servant of all. Kneeling down before them, Jesus places himself beneath their dirty, filthy, smelly feet and washes them. He becomes a servant before them. He takes on the very job of a household servant. The son of God stooping down to wiping the dirt from the feet of His people. Is there any better description or account of doing the will of God? The actual Messiah, Jesus kneeling down and cleansing those who needed cleansing the most? Such moments like this had to have left deep impressions upon His followers. Having the One who had been present at the beginning of creation wiping away dirt from their feeble human forms, what a lesson to learn! Master becoming servant. Jesus coming down to their level and preparing them for leadership and for eternity.
This is Discipleship:
In Jewish custom, a disciple was to do as the Rabbi did. A disciple went beyond just ‘doing’ what the Rabbi did though, the purpose of a disciple was to become the Rabbi. Literally taking on his mannerisms, his theological interpretations, his actions…everything to become just like the Rabbi. Jesus knelt at their feet and washed them. Jesus displayed for his disciples what they were to become to the world around them…servants of God, serving others. Jesus even told them this when He said; “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28)
Discipleship is doing the will of God, not just as a part-time worker, but a full time servant. Many will commit to part-time work as a servant, but few, when faced with choices of comfort and personal gain will accept that full-time role. Yet isn’t that what Christ-followers are called to do? To be full-time disciples in our lives? Full-time disciples of Christ doesn’t mean we give up our professional vocations and don on ropes of white and live off of the land. God can and will use you as His disciples right where you are at. Sometimes He asks us to move and to switch vocations, but many times He can and will use you if you are available for His purposes. True discipleship though looks very much that Jesus with towel wrapped around His waist washing feet. True discipleship may take on roles we feel are beneath us, not befitting one from our status…yet Jesus knelt down and washed the disciples feet, are you prepared to do so as well to those around you? Are you prepared to be a full-time disciple?
William Law once wrote; “The devout, therefore, are people who do not live to their own will, or in the way and spirit of the world, but only to the will of God. Such people consider God in everything, serve God in everything, and make every aspect of their lives holy by doing everything in the name of God and in a way that conforms to God’s glory.” (William Law, A serious call to a devout and holy life)
Do you view your life in this way? Is everything God’s? Are you doing the will of God because you are His humble servant? This is the cost of discipleship, but it’s not drudgery or done with groaning but instead because of love we cannot help but to serve the One who has set us free. Are you prepared to wrap that towel around your waist? Are you prepared to kneel down before those around you and to wash their feet? God doesn’t need any more part-time workers, He wants full-time servants who are committed to do His will.
“I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service.” -1 Timothy 1:12
The man once named Saul, persecutor and murderer of Christ-followers has been redeemed. Now, Christ’s ambassador, a humble servant renamed Paul writes to Timothy his protege and for all intense and purposes adopted son. Paul is nearing the end of his life. He knows that time is now running out for him. He isn’t bitter. He isn’t scorning and cursing his captors – Rome, instead he is making the most of his remaining time. He writes this encouraging letter to Timothy as a father would lovingly pen words on a page to a son. Paul considers himself the worst of sinners and even says son in his letter to Timothy.
Is there regret from his previous life, before Christ cast his light of salvation on him on a dusty Damascus road? Yes. But has this regret stopped Paul from living for Christ alone? No! Though Paul considered himself the worst of sinners, he indicates to Timothy that Christ had also deemed him worthy of calling.
What made Paul worthy? Was it his own hard work and effort to be ‘good’? No. How can a killer of Christians now be considered worthy & faithful? It becomes a matter of the heart. What lives inside our hearts only we and God know. What we feed on within out thought processes only we and God know. Paul was convinced, and the evidence of his ministry results are apparent, that Christ had judged him faithful and appointed him to serve.
What about us today?
Do you feel worthy of being called by God? Are you willing to serve Him wholeheartedly like Paul did? We don’t need to have a theological degree to serve Him. We don’t need to be highly educated to gather a towel around our waist and wash the feet of those around us for His glory. We don’t need to be preachers like Billy Graham to share this message of hope to the world around us. We just need to be faithful. Christ Jesus can and will strengthen you as well, just as He did with Paul. If we say ‘yes’ to His calling (whatever that calling looks like that enables us to serve Him) he will judge us faithful and then also appoint you as well to whatever task He needs you to serve Him in.
You may consider yourself in your own minds to be the worst of sinners also. You may think that God cannot forgive you for what you have done in your life…and you would be wrong! Christ is willing to forgive you if only you will let Him. When we open ourselves up to Him and His holy cleansing we will find love, grace and hope…we will find new life! And in this new life, we too will be judged as faithful servants of the Most High.
Are you willing today to trust Him? Are you willing to allow Him into your life? If you say yes to His calling on your life, watch out! You will never be the same again! Because the Apostle Paul said ‘yes’ to Christ many, many lives for changed including Timothy who did carry on in Paul’s footsteps. Because Paul said ‘yes’ to Christ the very world was changed because of His testimony. Today, this world needs more Pauls to boldly step up and say ‘yes’ to Christ…may you be a Paul today in your answer today!
-Just a thought.
I’ve heard it from both sides of the argument. The Salvation Army is a movement not an organization…wait what? Is it an unorganized movement then? Certainly what began as a movement as grown, hasn’t it? We are an entity within the universal Christian church. We, in every aspect of the theological argument have become another denomination, though some within our ranks might spurn that notion. Don’t believe me? Look it up on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations scroll down towards the middle of the list of denominations and you will find The Salvation Army listed under ‘Pietists and Holiness Churches’.
So let’s move on from that identity issue to the two main pivotal perspectives that I would like to look at rather closely.
Argument #1: The Salvation Army has become just another social service institution.
I can certainly see why some within our ranks would argue this point. Within the US, specifically, many programs to those in need are either completely or marginally dependent upon government funding sources. Much of our professional staffing can also be used to lend support of this argument. Also another source that might lend credence to this assumption stems from the adoption of its newest brand in 2005 of ‘Doing the most good‘. If you merely look at the wording, one could make the leap that the identity of the Army is shifting in the face of public perceptions and opinions. Put a new branding on the Army such as ‘Doing the most Good’ and now you can compete with other social service agencies which are in turn competing for the same public/government funding sources. And as we compete, we now how place our services ahead of other agencies because, after all, we do the most good…better than the rest.
Now before you write me some hate mail, let me just clarify; I am merely presenting one of the arguments within this identity crisis. This is not specifically my opinion but it is an opinion or as our Army likes to say, it is a perception. Right or wrong when a brand, even taken out of context, is utilized within a media savvy culture this common perception may or may not prevail. To say that we do not care what the public thinks would certainly be erroneous and untrue. Public support, both financially and physically, are necessary to our success as a ministry to those in need. We need reinforcements as well as the means to make things happen.
This specific argument that we are shifting our identity to become more of a social service agency and are too dependent on governmental funds does have some merit and weight behind it. There is certainly a danger that we may lose our identity of origin if we are not mindful of mission that is…which brings me to the other side of the argument…
Argument #2: The Salvation Army is a Church.
This argument prevails within our corps’ mission at times. Corps Councils at times get together and bemoan the fact that there is little to no ‘bridging’ going on between corps ministry and the weekly social service office which is always packed with people in need. At the extreme end of this argument are those who are so pious and holy in appearance yet they do little besides complain about the state of things instead of actually doing something about it. Not only is it the job of the corps officer to find and enact engaging and relevant ministry, but it is the primary job of the soldiery of that corps to suggest, lead, engage and do this important work as well! All too often this identity argument that The Salvation Army is first a church is water thin because many corps are seeing a decrease in Sunday attendance. It is not that Officers are not trying, however could it be that some of the programs that we offer need to be revamped or even given the boot? If this identity of Church truly ‘sticks’ then why aren’t we seeing consistent substantial growth in our corps…and I’m not just talking about the bigger corps in large metropolitan areas either, every corps in every city. In my opinion (here’s my take), one of the reasons we are seeing this identity of ‘church’ diminish in the pews is because of our history. By that I mean, if we explore the reasons for our initial explosion as a ‘Movement’ we will find that our founders were willing to try and risk anything to get people saved. Slogans like ‘Go for the worst‘ didn’t come because the early Army was playing it safe. They tried anything and sought to connect with the culture in which they ministered to. Today, we have much to lose if we risk as they once did. Programs are great but I believe sometimes our programs become a crutch and limit what we actually do or risk. Booth would close corps in a heartbeat if they were not growing, today we have too much invested in them to watch them fail or close their doors. In essence we are protecting our investments and often times we are more willing to play it safe and rest on our laurels than do something different.
This identity of ‘The Salvation Army is a church’ insulates us. It protects our accomplishments and we pull back in the risk department.
SO WHAT ARE YOU THEN?
Are we a social service agency or are we a church? The answer is….YES. 😉
What do I mean? If we lose either of these important aspects of our movement as an Army for Christ then we are finished. We might as well pack up and find another mission or ministry to serve under. There is a fine line here. It is a cautionary hazard reminding us not to veer too far in either direction. Church, get out of the slow, protective lane of tradition and heritage. Social Service, pull your hands back from the governmental piggy bank that places severe limits on what you can do in the name of Christ. Don’t become so dependent on money and thereby replace Christ with the worship of funds. We are a mission, an adaptive moving fluid mission for Christ. This is what we ought to be. We must not lose sight of why we are here in the first place. We must not forget that souls need to be both clothed, fed and with the physical and the spiritual. We cannot allow this notion that we are one or the other to divide us. We are One army, to quote our recent international theme. We must continue to serve Christ in such a way that He provides and He blesses instead of seeking for the approval man. Instead of playing it safe and insulating yet another army rich tradition behind polyester uniforms and archaic irrelevant programs, We need to keep moving forward not backward. The danger is when we shift from an organized movement to just an organization we stop moving…we stop striving forward in our relevancy in ministry.
We cannot afford to separate this identity as an Army. To do so, we face a slow, polarizing organizational death. I pray for more risk takers to be added to our ranks. I pray for more missionally minded Officers and Soldiers alike. I pray that we get up out of our pews and start doing something that reach a poor soul and touches the lost for Christ in the process. If we keep Christ as the face of our Army, we will not lose strength, we will ever be in tuned to His Holy Spirit’s prompting and moving for Him. If we ever get to the point that we care more about our Army than we do about Christ and His mission for us then we will have lost this vital and most pivotal identity and risk losing so much more than just our uniform.
There was sweat pouring and pooling on and around the collar of my workout shirt. It hadn’t taken me long to break a sweat. ‘Is that normal?’ I wondered to myself as I continued to pump my legs up and down as I strained towards another invisible incline on the elliptical machine. I stared straight ahead, bored to tears at the lack of scenery in my living room all the while motivational ‘cardio’ music pumped through my earphones. ‘Don’t look down’ I kept saying to myself, ‘don’t look down’. One would imagine I was walking a tightrope a thousand feet in the air if they had heard my mantra. Yet my eye inevitably looked down upon the elliptical machine’s work out clock…I still had plenty of time yet to complete. My work out was far from over. I groaned.
Scolding myself for looking down again, I tuned into the music which pumped out another fast rhythmic beat. I matched the rhythm with my strides on the elliptical. I was determined to make it over the next incline. I gritted my teeth and pushed through the discomfort and the screaming protests of my muscles. The effort would be worth it, I kept telling myself. There was a goal in mind, to lose weight to feel healthier and to live a longer more productive life. I knew that there would be miles and a miles of invisible inclines to go but my goal was worth the sweat and tears. My goal would payoff in the end.
It got me thinking. Isn’t that the image that we get when the Apostle Paul talked about running and about the prize of eternal life?
Check this out:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” -1 Corinthians 9:24
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 3:14
Application:
The Apostle Paul, a former persecutor of Christians, humbly and openly admitted that he was not there yet. He hadn’t crested that imaginary incline of faith. He knew that there was still work to be done within his life. He still was lacking and coming up out of breath spiritually. Yet his short comings were not going to deter him from seeking and attaining his goal.
What is your goal? What are you striving to become within God’s kingdom? Are you serious about your pursuit of personal holiness? Are you committed to that seemingly invisible incline of faith? God doesn’t want to leave us (nor will He) at the Altar of our initial sanctification (our salvation story)! His Holy Spirit wants to do a work within us. An amazing work within us! He wants us 100% committed to Him for His purpose and mission! But we have to be willing to move from spiritual infancy to a deeper more lasting spiritual maturity. This move takes place when we get serious about our relationship to Christ. It’s deeply personal and only we can make the decision to move. The Holy Spirit will prompt, prod and even convict us but we are the ones who have to make the conscientious decision to get up and move. There will be sweat and sacrifice, of that we can be sure of. Yet if we make the move, we begin to tap into the very power of the Holy Spirit who can help us and sustain us in this discipline of holiness.
What are your personal goals as a Christ-follower? There is a purpose for each of us as fellow sojourners. God does not want us to settle for mediocrity in our faith. Nor does He want us to become out of shape (spiritually), lazy and without missional purpose. There is so much more He wants of us, but in order to accomplish anything for Him, we have to have the right priorities in place in our lives.
Prioritizing Spiritual Fitness:
These priorities begin with our daily spiritual workout. That spiritual workout consists of our daily even moment by moment conversations with God. How can we train, how can we run in this faith without first being plugged into the very source of our hope and salvation? A daily discipline of feasting on the word of God, coupled with our prayerful conversations with Him will set us in the right direction of forward progress in our personal and spiritual growth. Without these two main components placed as top priority in our lives, we face the possibility of becoming utterly lost in our jumbled world which could be full of empty pursuits. The Holy Spirit can shape us and mold us, if we allow Him to, but it takes effort and willingness on our part. We have to be available and willing to move.
Are you ready to work out? Are you prepared to sweat and strain for the goal of being Christ-like in your life? Then it’s time to get up and move. Don’t ignore the Holy Spirit’s promptings in your life, He wants to complete that work in you…are you willing? Are you ready? Let’s go.
I want to grasp your hand dear Lord
But my grip is oh so weak
An ebbing strength of childlike hands
dulled senses, calloused and poor.
Yet as fingertips extend to where
They have never touched the heavens
All blood escapes as gravity closes in for a closer look
Kissing the heart strings as I strain
But Lord how feeble I must seem
All the while you, in all your glory
Indescribable in your majesty and might.
Even though I reach and strain
Gritting teeth and labored breath
I am no closer to you than when I started…
It is in a moment of complete resignation
Shoulders slumped, eye lids shut
Bitterness on the tongue pushed back
Swallowed and helplessness in my heart…
It is in this moment of complete and utter
Abandon of self-worth and personal gain
That I feel something.
That I feel a touch.
That I feel a warmth, like never before
As blazing fingertips extend and grasp onto mine
As I pull back in surprise for but a moment
As I recognize that I am in your very presence
Totally lost, powerless and surrendered…
You hold my hands in yours, I can feel your power
I can feel your strength as if it beckons me to
Believe.
Looking up, hesitant, penitent
I find love.
I find joy.
I find peace.
All of my labored aching ceases
I am whole.
I am found.
I am Yours.
Luke 5:16 (ASV)
But he withdrew himself in the deserts, and prayed.
Apathy is the death of man’s spiritual relationship with God. It happens when we stop caring, or find ourselves at a point in our lives where we are unfeeling. Have you been there before? It can be both terrifying and silent because we are often very good at faking it. We are often quite good at acting the part even when the heart isn’t in it.
I don’t mean to cast any doubts your way today or cause you to feel down…because there is hope in all of this! Sometimes this pathway of apathy leads directly to the wilderness. What do I mean by the wilderness? I don’t mean an empty lonely place full of strife and pain. When I say wilderness I am implying that there are times in which God is longing for us to draw closer to Him. If we are aware of this apathetic pathway we can take steps in the right direction.
Why did God lead His people into the wilderness in the first place? Through this dry and thirsty place God showed His chosen ones how they could fully rely on Him. He was present for them. He was (and still is) in love with His people. When they were in this barren wilderness the total acknowledgement that they needed help became completely apparent. Stepping onto this pathway of apathy is dangerous, but it can also lead us back to the wilderness and back to a right relationship with God.
Are you unfeeling today? Are you simply going through the motions in life right now? Sure the routine is somewhat rewarding but somehow you’ve lost that passion you once had. Perhaps it’s time to take a step into the wilderness once again and get reconnected with the Almighty. Apathy might be the death of man’s spiritual relationship with God…but it doesn’t have to be!
Taking time to stand before God without distractions of all kinds is absolutely necessary! If Jesus had to get away and commune with the Father what makes us think that we can simply ‘go it alone’? The truth of the matter is we cannot! The wilderness is calling…will you go? Will you take the time that your spirit and heart crave? Will you sacrifice some of your schedule in this day and give it completely to God so that He has your undivided attention? It’s not so much for His benefit but rather completely for our benefit and His renewal that we do this.
Go into your wilderness and meet with The Father, and over time you will find that every motion your body makes, every schedule that you keep matters to Him as well. He wants to be included in it all, He wants you to bring glory to Him in all things. But it begins with our time in the wilderness before Him.
A friend of mine reminded me recently that sometimes it takes a village to raise a child. And at times, dare I say, the village is better than the parent. Sometimes if the village wasn’t there the child would have a tougher path to walk.
What can the village (which is the church, neighbors, friends, family, teachers, Sunday school teachers…etc) do to help the child and the family? Dare I say that the village is vital. In fact the village is a necessary component to the parent!
What can the village do?:
1. Listen:
Be a listening ear to children. As mentioned in the first part of this conversation, sometimes a child’s home life isn’t the best. Perhaps their parents really suck at being parents. Perhaps there’s substance abuse at home. A lot takes place behind closed doors. To be a supportive village one has to be a good listener, in order to be a good listener one has to be available. Don’t just offer random advice to children who come to you, but actively engage in listening. Sometimes it’s not what the child is saying that speaks the loudest. Be sensitive but listen. I recall having numerous conversations with my Grandmother who was always a wonderful listener. Children growing up need this kind of support as well!
2. Engage and Challenge:
There were times when I was growing up that I would more readily listen to a teacher or a Sunday School teacher say something that my parents had been saying for years. Why is it that our children will actually hear it from an outsider or one of the ‘villagers’ before they will hear it from the parent? For whatever reason this is true. As a member of the village sometimes parents need you to reinforce what they’ve already been saying for it to finally click with the child. Be an engager with the children you have the opportunity to instruct. Challenge them, remind them of how to live consistently and faithfully. What you say, at times, carries more weight with a child than what their parents have already said. These children need to hear godly instruction and see consistency in you as well!
3. Safe Harbor
By this I mean, be the safe zone for the children in your ‘village’ that you have the opportunity to minister to. Have an open door policy. Let them know that though you’re not their parents you accept them for who they are and you will be there for them. Being there for a child is sometimes all that they need! It’s not that their parents are bad or abusive but rather it’s a place to come to get away from their parents and you have an opportunity to instruct and further develop them. Every child needs a safe harbor that they can go.
4. Pray for them.
People even members of the ‘village’ often underestimate the power of prayer. Prayer is a primary weapon not a secondary weapon. Use it. Let the child know that you are praying for them and allow them to share with you prayer concerns. Also this is a wonderful teaching opportunity that you have to instruct them as to how to pray. So not only are you actively engaging in prayer for them but you are showing them how to pray as well. This will further develop the child in the ways of God…which are vital for adulthood.
5. Visit their homes, befriend their parents
To be an engaged village one has to have a connection to the families. Be proactive in going to the homes of the children you are collectively raising. Get to know the parents for a couple of reasons. 1) so that you can understand better the child and 2) so that you can understand the parents and their style of parenting. Great things come of fellowship in the home setting. It’s a place where guards are let down and real connections are made. As a member of the ‘village’ you are only as engaging as how deep or shallow your connection with the family is. Meet the parents, understand what they are going through. Get to know if they are working 80 hour weeks and need some help to care for their kids. Get to understand the family dynamics and look for ways to come along side them on this journey.
Parents need you! The village is vital! Don’t let the parents or the children take advantage of you though, be wise while at the same time be available.
Pastor's Ponderings 