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Please disregard this post… it is a technical upgrade.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
blog-o-therapy #2 - Expectations...
http://careynieuwhof.com/2013/11/5-unusual-ways-ministry-leaders-struggle-with-god/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=5-unusual-ways-ministry-leaders-struggle-with-god
So this blog post is pretty good. And true. I have found myself in each of the places mentioned within the article.
And it raises the question… Why do I let myself get there? I would never let someone that I am counseling believe these lies about their situation. I would explain a loving God who is generous and purposeful to His core. I would offer a God who loves without condition and encourage them with words of Scripture that are profound and moving.
So why, then, as soon as something happens that is difficult in my ministry do I find myself searching my last few days trying to find the reason for why God is allowing this terrible thing to happen to me? More succinctly, why would God allow this terrible thing to happen to such a wonderful guy like me?
And maybe that is the point… The assumption that I carry is that I really am all that wonderful (just ask me), and that being wonderful deserves a certain kind of treatment from God.
Expectations suck!
I expect that if I am "doing well" with God (whatever that means) then the church will grow. I expect that when it isn't moving along at the rate it should, the reason is all about me. I expect that God is going to protect me from the pain of life. I expect that everyone around me is going to eventually see the world just the way I do. And those who see it differently are either wrong or stubborn. And I expect that if I am going to give you pieces of my heart as a friend or a family member, you must see everything just like me.
And if any of those expectations are not met, well then I am very busy right now and don't have time to be with you. And I expect you'll understand and be okay with that. I am a pastor after all. There are lots of demands on my really important job.
I sound really gross. Would I even like to hang out with me? To be honest, I don't really like hanging out with me. And maybe that is why I expect you to be or act a certain way and why I expect God to be or act certain ways and when He or you interrupt the patterns of my expectations, I don't have a frame of reference for that. Maybe some part of my relationships with others and God is about a test of whether or not I am okay based on whether or not you think I am.
Maybe I use pain to validate a skewed perspective of how the world around me is supposed to function.
What do you think? What are some of your expectations of God and others?
So this blog post is pretty good. And true. I have found myself in each of the places mentioned within the article.
And it raises the question… Why do I let myself get there? I would never let someone that I am counseling believe these lies about their situation. I would explain a loving God who is generous and purposeful to His core. I would offer a God who loves without condition and encourage them with words of Scripture that are profound and moving.
So why, then, as soon as something happens that is difficult in my ministry do I find myself searching my last few days trying to find the reason for why God is allowing this terrible thing to happen to me? More succinctly, why would God allow this terrible thing to happen to such a wonderful guy like me?
And maybe that is the point… The assumption that I carry is that I really am all that wonderful (just ask me), and that being wonderful deserves a certain kind of treatment from God.
Expectations suck!
I expect that if I am "doing well" with God (whatever that means) then the church will grow. I expect that when it isn't moving along at the rate it should, the reason is all about me. I expect that God is going to protect me from the pain of life. I expect that everyone around me is going to eventually see the world just the way I do. And those who see it differently are either wrong or stubborn. And I expect that if I am going to give you pieces of my heart as a friend or a family member, you must see everything just like me.
And if any of those expectations are not met, well then I am very busy right now and don't have time to be with you. And I expect you'll understand and be okay with that. I am a pastor after all. There are lots of demands on my really important job.
I sound really gross. Would I even like to hang out with me? To be honest, I don't really like hanging out with me. And maybe that is why I expect you to be or act a certain way and why I expect God to be or act certain ways and when He or you interrupt the patterns of my expectations, I don't have a frame of reference for that. Maybe some part of my relationships with others and God is about a test of whether or not I am okay based on whether or not you think I am.
Maybe I use pain to validate a skewed perspective of how the world around me is supposed to function.
What do you think? What are some of your expectations of God and others?
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