One of the biggest lessons I am learning about ministry is that sharing gets harder the older we get sometimes. I didn’t notice it so much back when I worked most likely because I worked in places that had firm organizational structures that helped to ensure order. I didn’t notice so much when I was in school because again of the inherent power structure between teachers and students. But, I’ve noticed it in extended families and I notice it in the church.
It’s difficult to share buildings when we have different ideas about how the buildings should be used. It’s difficult to share theologies when we have different ideas about who God is and who God calls us to be. And it’s difficult to share in worship together when we have different ideas about what worship should be. Sharing gets harder and harder!
Our challenge, I believe, is to come together around a single leader (Christ) as empowered by a single Spirit (as in Holy) as created by a single God. As we do this we bump into one another, get angry, and we all make mistakes. But, this gives us the opportunity to see the other side of the story, to forgive others as well as ourselves, and to discover new ways of living and being.
No one said life would be easy, Christ never promised that life could be frustration free. But, God can shape us into the most amazing people if we stay in the game and move where God might have us. As we move toward Holy Week – remember that before new life can happen there are always labor pains!
