My brother in law and I decided we would go mountain biking the other day. I have a couple of routes close to home that take me through some incredibly beautiful places. While they aren't really bike paths these places provide an intense workout.
Everything was cool until we hit an area that was really muddy from all the rain. We were too far into this muddy adventure to turn around and mud was getting caked into our gears and brakes. It didn't help that Billy had brand new white tennis shoes on! We finally made our way back to a road and when we hit the pavement all that mud on our tires started flying up on us. By the time we got home we looked like we had been mud wrestling.
As I was washing my bike off and pulling hunks of mud from my brakes it hit me that our muddy adventure is alot like ministry. God has called us to minister to people that are in some pretty messy places. Ministry often takes some unexpected turns and we get immersed in all kinds of "stuff".
Solomon said it well in Proverbs 14:4 Ministry is messy stuff. but God has a way of blessing the mess. He has called us to come alongside all types of people who have all kinds of hurts. It's impossible to keep things nice and tidy. But just like our muddy bike ride, the adventure is well worth it. Investing time, effort, and energy in people's lives means we pretty much get covered with stuff (painful experiences, hurt feelings, misunderstandings, conflict, etc). Ministry isn't a smooth ride with perfect conditions, but God's promise is that in the end those who live a Gal. 6:9 life will know the joy of an abundant harvest that only God can bring.
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1 comment:
What an apt description of ministry! Ministry is indeed like getting down in the muck and mire of people's lives. Ministry in relationship is never "clean" and is never "easy".
BTW, I always laugh when someone curses in front of me or tells me something and thinks I'll be shocked and says "I know you're a minister" as if I have never heard anything like this. I always laugh. I think ministry is one of the places we get to see the reality of people, even if that happens when there's an emergency.
Much of the walk of faith is facing reality. The reality of sin. The reality of what it has done in our hearts and lives and relationships. etc. Facing reality together and then asking Christ to redeem and restore.......that's ministry. It ain't always pretty.
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