Rant and Prayer

I have asked God my entire life to make me an influencer. Make me the kind of person that makes a difference. Make me the person that is not afraid to call out injustice. God, make me the kind of person who sees injustice in the world and does something about it. Make me the kind of person that sees a need and motivates a group of people to meet that need. Make me a listener and an actuator. Make me a fighter. Make me a lover of people.

Mind you, I ask all of these things in relation to the world of people that surround me who have no hope, the world beyond my immediate reach yet not out of reach, my friends who are not followers of Jesus, the people in my community who flip off God because they believe they have been abandoned and disregarded, the intellectuals I know who fight God at every turn, yes, all of these and more.

I feel really good about the opportunities God has given me to do just that. And, he is making us more innovative and proactive as a community all the time.

You know where I am through spending my time?

With pissy Christians. With backwards Christians. With ingrown Christians. With sedentary Christians. With hostile Christians. With boring lackluster Christians.

Now, I know part of my role is to dialogue with other believers and other partners in crime about how we can better serve our communities, meet needs, be creative, etc. That stuff fires me up. That’s not the problem. My problem is not other believers who are movers and shakers. My problem is not even people who aren’t necessarily “up to speed” or innovative in ministry—as long as they are moving forward, asking questions, changing, growing, and stretching. It is great to learn from one another.

But . . .

If I get another email, blog comment, or Twitter . . . if I entertain one more conversation . . . if I have one more churched person pick a fight with me over sacred cows, methodology, church personality, the value of tradition, the errors of the emerging church, style and personality of ministry, the authors I read, etc. I swear I am going to kick them in the teeth. I mean that in the Lord.

Angry?

You bet.

Thank God these people are few and far between at my church. They are there but they aren’t many. They don’t stick around long because we don’t tolerate it.

For some reason, people whom I don’t know, have never talked to face to face, and whom I have no relationship with whatsoever somehow believe they have the right to tell me how to do ministry with the people I love and the community I am invested in.

Bullshit.

Stick to your own communities. Love them till you bleed. When you have nothing left because you have given your all for those people, drop me an email and tell me what has been effective for you. I won’t argue with you. I will celebrate with you.

I only have so much energy. And, I want it to go to my family, my church, my community, and those who need Jesus. So, stick to your boycotts, your silly battles that feed your identity, and majoring in ineffectiveness.

Don’t waste my time. It is a precious commodity and I am not letting you rob me any longer.

If I don’t answer your combative emails, you’ll know this post was for you.

If you are in ministry and find yourself wasting time on the wrong battlefields, please let me know. I would like to pray for you. Pray for me.

God, please bring unity to your church. Remind us what matters. Give us energy and purpose and vision and creativity and resources to incite change. Make us lovers. And, for those who want to stall the process of being Jesus to a world that needs hope—please shut them up and move them out of the way. If WE ever are that people, shut us up and move us out of the way. Then, break us and rebuild us and set us right again.

Amen.