Weakness
Posted on October 30 2009. Comments: 3
Posted by:
Tamie Davis
I found that one of the advantages of doing a ministry traineeship for two years before hitting college was that it provided me with plenty of questions! One of the questions I've brought with me to college is how to deal with weakness and insufficiency in ministry.
My question goes something like this:
I'm at college for three years in order to be equipped (or start getting equipped) to serve and lead God's people. Among other things, this seems to include:
- becoming more competent at things like ministry skills, handling the Bible, etc.
- gaining self-understanding of my own weaknesses and how to minimise or compensate for them.
The thing is, I'm still trying to work out where being competent meets with God using the weak. For example, no one holds up Moses as an example in preaching class or Samson in the class on professional ethics. Similarly, very few books on burnout use the apostle Paul as the pin up boy.
My question isn't "Can God use me, though I am weak?" It's more one of trying to work out what place to ascribe to skills and strengths; but also, how to think about sin and its impact on ministry.
This is an issue that I think goes deeper than the standard 'be good at what you do, just make sure you're humble'. Similarly the 'do it in God's strength' idea seems cliche. The NT provides a few guidelines for leadership - like being in a polygamous relationship rules someone out, for example. But what about being mentally ill (say, depression)? And how mentally ill do you have to be before you're unsuitable for ministry? (As downcast as Jeremiah; or as manic as Ezekiel?) Same deal with people skills or preaching - how bad do you have to be before that's it?
So that's my question - kind of convoluted but hopefully you get the drift! I'm looking forward to spending some of my summer thinking about this. I think 1 and 2 Corinthians will be good places to start in the Bible. Where else might I go, do you think? What do you reckon? What are good books to read? How do you come to terms with your own weakness?
Comments
Monday, 09 November 2009
middleoftheroad says:
Maybe it is not your call. Ministry is not just a matter of feeling that you are called by God. Ministry gifts and ministry impediments are recognised by the community. Ministry is about God’s call to the individual and that call being recognised by the community.
Ezekiel believed that he was called by God to be a watchman and the community recognised that call - however oddly Ezekiel behaved. If Ezekiel was simply a fruitcake then this contemporaries and their successors would not have recognised God speaking through him.
Sometimes the church seems to get it wrong - but we are not perfect. We feel called to put up our hands and say, Here am I send me and trust that God will overrule our lack of competence/faithfulness and overrule the church’s lack of perception.
Friday, 04 December 2009
Andrew Malone says:
Hmmmm. A thorny problem, isn’t it? I hope you’ll be posting some of your reflections as/after they take shape!
While you read Corinthians, you might look at other information about Paul. Working through Acts this semester I’ve been particular struck by Paul’s frailty. He receives a whole stack of personal appearances, commissions and encouragements from the risen Jesus (e.g. Acts 9:1–9ff; 16:6–10; [16:25–28?]; 18:9–10; 19:21–22?; [21:10–14??]; 22:17–21; 23:11; 27:23–25; as well as 2 Corinthians 12, etc.).
Do five or six (or more) such occasions suggest that Paul’s pioneering ministry was tough? I’m sure it was. But they might also suggest that Paul was sufficiently frail that he would not have persisted without the ongoing, special condescension of God…
What ought modern ministers/missionaries expect today?!
Sunday, 08 November 2009
PeteG says:
Great question!
Our weaknesses are definitely things that we need to be very aware of. Its a bit of a two-sided thing. On one side, as you say, we need to know what they are in order to work on improving them, and on the other hand, give God great glory because He still wants us to be part of building His kingdom even though we(especially me) continually do our very best to stuff it up!
Every character in the Bible that God used had huge character flaws (except for the obvious one). Moses was shy. Peter was loud, arrogant and hot-headed. Paul killed Christians. All the disciples had severe issues. The prophets (as you mentioned) suffered from extreme psychological problems ranging from depression to paranoia. Timothy was young and immature. Noah was an alcoholic. The list goes on and on.
I think God uses us not because of how good we are at any particular job or ministry. He uses us because it is His delight! He takes great joy in taking something which by his or herself can barely put two thoughts together, and makes something which is an integral part of His plan.
I think for us its not so much about weakness vs. competency, but about obedience. God loves it when we are obedient to his desires, despite our own misgivings about whether or not we fit the selection criteria!
Those are my thoughts anyway