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RJR_fan -> RE: Leavign Jobs to focus on ministry. What do you think? (8/11/2008 6:51:13 AM)
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quote:
By leaving our jobs to focus on the blog, we will be stripped off of our financial resources, but as Christians today, what would you say if I was in front of you right now?
That you need to think long and hard, to make sure that your thinking hasn't been warped by the subtle gnosticism in American pietism that denigrates real life and promotes some variety of "spiritual" endeavor as superior to "worldly" work.
Been there, done that, got the tee shirt -- and scars that still itch decades later.
As a newly "born-again" Christian, I lapped up those testimony books wherein folks who were really serious about serving God quit what they were doing and left their nets to follow Jesus. You would be aghast to find out how many people who thought they'd be "living by faith" end up "subsisting on charity." We're all called to some form of Christian witness. Most of us are also called to perform tangible service to God and man, in the form of our regular jobs. When we try to put our primary efforts into our secondary calling, our lives are warped, and our productivity nose-dives.[1] Yes, it's possible to walk on your hands -- but not very efficient! Frequently, people who pursue this "higher way" end up in high-demand communities, trading unpaid labor for a sense of fulfilling exciting missions.[2]
In many parts of the world, your work and your family give you credibility. Someone who drops in from out of nowhere, with no visible means of support, no obvious connections to extended family life, and doing nothing useful, is (justifiably) viewed with suspicion. "Hello. I'm from the United States. And I'm here to 'help' you." They've heard that line before -- from the "birth control" technicians who mutilated (sterilized) their young woman, for example.
A man I know and respect spent 14 years on the field as an engineer in a very useful branch of the profession, in order to establish his credibility.[3] English teachers are welcome in China, and discrete after-hours sessions that use the Bible as a textbook are politely ignored by the officials -- and by most of the students, who already had their social networks in place long before the American girl showed up to try and push her way in![4]
One final rant. Our denomination has a ruthlessly efficient screening process in place for people who feel called to "full-time Christian service." They need to raise their support. Someone who volunteers for leading worship, for example, may enjoy it so much that he wants to do it full-time. At which point, he steps OUT of the ministry, sits down, and shuts up, until he's "raised enough support" to pay his own way. I was the target of such a sales pitch one day over lunch -- and it was a slickly professional sales job, complete with a "closer" -- "We both can see how important this kind of ministry is. Could I count on you for $X per month? Well, how about $Y?"[5]
In the words of our church's founding pastor, "There's no romance without finance."
Somebody's got to do something useful to pay the bills -- and why, exactly, are you convinced that that somebody should be somebody else?
[1] The next time you hear Don MacLean's haunting ballad Starry, Starry Night, remember -- Vincent Van Gogh would probably have retained both ears, and lived decades longer, had he known that God was better glorified by a magnificent painter than He was by a lousy preacher.
[2] Often, people who leave such intense and passionate communities have real trouble adapting to the workaday world. For months, or years, they've seen themselves as doing something far more important than "worldly" work -- and their work ethic has been crippled. It can take years to repair that damage, speaking from experience ...
[3] "Jack" was told by the first missions agency he approached that he was "too old" to master the language and culture that was the springboard for the very isolated target population on his heart. He found another agency, and had many fruitful years of outreach, with a family that included home-school kids.
[4] Such has been the experience of my son's old girlfriend, anyhow!
[5] If you can't do salesmanship, find another occupation. This system requires aspirants to demonstrate, in cold, hard, cash, that they have sufficient "favor with God and man" to make a go of it in full-time vocational ministry. On the one hand, this system generates many people who can pursue opportunities around the world as they open up. Our church was planting daughter churches in the former Soviet bloc soon after the wall came down. OTOH, though, the system is biased towards charming, charismatic, and somewhat ruthless folks.
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