ASKING QUESTIONS

 

          It may be time that we stop simply taking for granted what we’ve always done, what’s always worked before, and the belief that things will go back to the way things used to be.

          Just because something worked once doesn’t mean it will work now. Just last week, I wrote how my own eyes aren’t working like they used to. Ministry and stewardship are the same. My less clear eyesight is affecting me; ministry and stewardship are affecting the world.

          Is continuing the same things the same way working for us? If we’re honest, the answer may be “not really.”

          So, if we’re being honest, let’s ask ourselves some questions:

1.   Who is our ministry for?

2.   What is the difference we are making?

3.   Who are we, now?

4.   Who is our neighbor, now?

5.   What is God asking of us, now?

          Did you notice that the last three questions contain the word now? If we’re just going to keep doing the same old, the same old, then we really don’t care about the now. The problem is, I think we do care. We care about what God is asking of us right here, right now. Or we should.

          The “new normal” may not be temporary, it may BE the new normal. We can’t ignore change; and we can’t ignore our neighbor.

          Taking the time to sit together as a leadership team, as a small group, as a council, as a congregation, as clergy, and as laity is vital. Answering these questions, honestly, may be difficult, but if we’re serious about being who God is asking us to be; if we’re serious about doing what God is asking us to do; and if we’re serious about loving as God asks us to love, then the answers to these questions can only help guide that work.