A typical afternoon after lunch will find me at my desk, sitting back in my chair, casually peeling an orange as I skim an article online or review a lesson plan. Today, however, things went all wrong...
My orange wouldn't peel. You've had those oranges, right? The peel just doesn't want to come off, and you end up tearing into the flesh of the orange and dripping juice all over and everything gets sticky. Instead of relaxing at my desk, I had to move operations to the office kitchenette and eat over the sink, spitting out surprise seeds all along the way.
And I was reminded how life is reflected in this. I often times go into auto pilot with ministry and life, until I come across a needy student or a teaching topic that kicks me into full manual mode. And I'm there right now. The current teaching series we're in is not one that I can just breeze through. I'm realizing that every point needs to be re-evaluated to get it past the point of my usual Christian jargon challenges.
...and it's starting to get sticky. It's pushing me spiritually. In different areas then I'm pushing students, but pushing me nonetheless. So I'm shifting gears constantly; changing the standard operating procedures; increasing communication with all parties involved; and doing everything possible to complete the operation to full effectiveness.
Ministry can be messy sometimes...and is always messy when mixed with life. But then again, ministry without life isn't really ministry, anyway.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment