I have been reading the 4th
century classic City of God by Augustine of Hippo. It is a voluminous
work that is a defense of Christians that have been accused of causing the fall
of Rome due to worshipping Jesus instead of the plethora of gods that dominated
Roman culture. This book may be the most quoted Christian text with the Bible
as the lone exception. In a straightforward quote, Augustine writes the
following, “No man can be a good bishop if he loves his title but not his
task.” Clearly, Augustine is instructing pastors to be committed to the
pastoral office with sincerity and passion. I have modified the quote to a
prayer for a fledgling church planter. “Help me love this future church and not
the title of ‘church planter’.”
“How exciting!” and similar
exclamations from Christians in Sioux City and Desoto County is usually the
response to us planting a church. To be sure, it is exciting. The hope that in
the future an established, Gospel proclaiming church body with officers and a
statement of faith will exist and God will use our core group to make it happen
is what drives us to wake up every morning. However, “all that glitters is not
gold.” It is heartbreaking, rewarding, painful, exhilarating and even monotonous.
We pray for our neighbors; serve them; invite them to bible studies and
suppers. Sometimes they are interested, but sometimes they aren’t. Circumstances
can be frustrating; one friend of ours, Matt, was a good prospect. He claimed
to be a Christian and liked what we were trying to do. God then blessed him
with a promotion, but he had to move 3 hours away. On the other hand, there
have been successes. I had a 2 hour long conversation with an ardent atheist,
who became friends with me and has expressed interest in discussing the
philosophy of Jesus; the Holy Spirit showed him flaws in his humanist
worldview. We rejoice.
Rejoicing is not an option. We are
told to “rejoice always” in Philippians. That text is so poignant to me because
ministry success is always a mixed bag. Christ is never a mixed bag. He always
encourages, always guides and always provides. Sometimes pursuing the calling
of God is not exciting ; sometimes it’s not but it is always worth it.
In Christ,
Richard
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