In my Monday evening class "Formation & Mission" my professor posed this question to us. For this class we have formed small groups that we will be in for the duration of the semester so in our groups we were to describe or define ministry in one sentence as if it were the first line in a magazine. This led us into a group discussion on what we think ministry is. It was a real interesting activity and was even more interesting hearing the response of each group. So, what is ministry?
According to the groups in my class it is: "Incarnating the gospel in your world/context" was one response. Another response was, "Ministry is God's calling of His people to further develop and grow His Kingdom", and another was "Ministry is our response to the Great Commission through service and discipleship empowered by the Holy Spirit". If you know me well you can probably figure out which group I was in but that is beside the point. So far in my seminary classes and the reading for them, I have really been challenged to rethink or come to a decision on where I stand with this whole emerging church movement. Reading books like "a new kind of Christian" and "character of theology" have led me down a path of underlining certain points that stuck out and questioning others. I know that I shouldn't expect to come to a strong position right now but it is definitely valuable to look into.
It's quite obvious to me that we can no longer expect that the tactics that were used in Christian ministry back in the 60's 70's 80' 90's will still be relevant to our culture. The message of the Gospel is one that is never changing or wavering, but we minister in a context and culture that is ever changing and the question becomes: how do we minister the Gospel in this day and age? Many tend to believe that you cannot be in tune with the culture and the scripture at the same time because you will then have elevated culture above the word of God, and others say that you cannot put all the focus on the Word of God because then you will have no relevancy to your world. This can't be right. What's the balance? There has to be one right? Well, that is something that I haven't quite figured out and I'm quite sure that I won't really mind if I don't figure it out. All I know is that my heart's desire is to live a life that is reflected of Jesus Christ. To see the world the way He sees it, to love the world the way He loves it, to show compassion the way He shows compassion, and to surrender to the will of the Father the way He did.
My desire is to live authentically the Gospel message of Jesus Christ in the context that I am in and then just pray that the Lord would use my humble, feeble efforts.
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