Getting Beyond What We Say
by Dr. Diana Hynson, Director of Learning and Teaching Ministries in the Congregation, General Board of Discipleship

A pastor beginning a new appointment and a new marriage was greeted with an enthusiastic offer from her husband: "I can retire from my job and help you in your ministry!" Sounds great on the surface, but his offer was refused.

"I don't want a co-pastor (for the price of one); I want a husband," she said. "Besides, you have your own ministry. You just have to figure out what it is." Mother Teresa had famously refused passionate offers for help in India by urging others to "find their own Calcutta."

The pastor's husband was a federal employee in one of the nation's security agencies — which doesn't at first appear to be a fruitful ministry area. "Perhaps you could think about how your work helps this and other nations maintain some level of peace," she suggested. "That's a worthy effort." He had something new to think about.

Faith sharing is as much about who we are and do as what we say; in fact, as has been pointed out many times before, actions speak louder than words. How can we help all members of the congregation be faithful, witnessing Christians wherever they spend their day? And how can we help them examine what they do to discover how God's grace is at work in their work? When new people attend or join the church, they can be overwhelmed with the nominations committee "feeding frenzy." Where can we put this fresh blood? What committee needs help? How can this new person's gifts be employed in the life of the church? We often think only in terms of the local church's ministry areas when considering the recruitment and deployment of both new and long-time members.

Since the church isn't (or shouldn't be) an isolated element in the community or world, but an integral part of them, perhaps we ought also to be asking: "Who in our faith community would serve well on the school board?" "Who would we like to see in the legislature who would ensure a fair shake for the people on the margins of our society?" "Who could we encourage to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity?" "Who in the church might have the advocacy skills to help non-English speaking people get fair treatment in job seeking?"

When I served as a local church pastor, I occasionally asked my members what they thought God's plan for them was; and I was dismayed at how often they confessed that they had no idea. I assume that at least part of the reason for that was that I did not name and identify the gifts I saw in them often enough or offer the right kind of encouragement to see and act on those gifts. What I did suggest was that they examine the signposts in their lives: where their passions lay; what they liked to do; what they did well, not just in the church, but in general. Then I asked them to consider how those passions, beliefs, and skills could be employed in God's service.

The next step is to be an active encourager. Certainly, do the self-examination of your own gifts, but name and encourage the gifts you see in others. Be creative in suggesting how those gifts could be used, both in the church and outside the church. Search out how your vocation or someone else's vocation can be understood as ministry. How can we think theologically about what we already do? How can we do what we already think about theologically? How deeply can we understand what it means to witness in the world, going beyond just what we say to what we do and who we are?

posted 9-7-01