Faith
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Thinking the Faith, Praying the Faith, Living the Faith is written by the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship.
Thinking, praying, and living the faith is at the core of ministry in the Office of Theology and Worship. In the following videos, learn more about what thinking, praying, and living the faith means to the leadership of the Office of Theology and Worship. Discover why it matters and what difference it makes in our lives, work, and worship.
Charles Wiley
Barry Ensign-George
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Christine Hong
Karen Russell
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"Anything to help...."
Recent family events have forced me to ponder the nature of “help,” and not in a Beatles-esque sort of way. The short version of the story: my sister in law is in need of help during a difficult pregnancy, and her friends have all offered to “help.” Without exception, the offer is a version of this: “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” For my sister in law, “help” would be bringing evening meals, helping with the laundry on weekends, do some light housekeeping. For a few of her friends, this also defines “help.” But for others, “help” is defined only as babysitting her delightful and precocious two year old who is in preschool during the day and does not require a sitter while home with her parents. Her requests for meals or help with the laundry fall on deaf ears.
Over the course of the last couple of weeks, it has become clear to her that for many people, the offer of “anything I can do to help” is anything but that. It’s a way for them to offer and then tell themselves that their offer was rejected, to soothe their own conscience. Seeing this from the outside has pointedly reminded me of the times I have made similar offers of “help” that really were more about me than about the person I was offering to help.
I’m guilty of this when it comes to faithfully living out the call of Christ. I know what I would like ministry to look like for me. It doesn’t end up that way, though.
Jesus was surrounded by followers who announced more than once they were willing to follow him anywhere, but when it became clear just where Jesus was headed, the numbers dropped. And those same followers just didn’t hear what Jesus was saying when he explained to them exactly what following him would entail: that suffering and death and service and self denial rather than glory and honor were in store for them. Following Jesus wasn’t about what it would do for them, but about what Jesus would do for the world.
A life of faith really isn’t about me and what I want. I would prefer exotic and exciting ways to serve the kingdom of God. But most of the time, I find that it's the more mundane things that need doing. And they do need doing so that other things can happen, or move forward, or be completed by others.
I need to remind myself of this daily – that answering the call of Christ may mean that I need to do the ministry equivalent of laundry.
- Posted at 9:56 p.m.
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