I learned in my first ministry position that living in the past can be detrimental to your health and spiritual life. There was an elderly lady at the congregation where I worked who was in bad physical health and walked with a walker, yet loved to talk. However, once you listened to her stories you quickly realized that all of them were from the past. Years had gone by and these stories were all she had. She didn't speak of the future and the present was filled with complaints of new ailments. She was lonely and yet she was sweet. I felt for her and usually gave my time to listen to what she had to say. I remember the preacher saying to me one day, "She needs to stop living in the past and we need to help her start living for today and the future." It seemed insensitive to me at the time and yet profound. I hadn't until that moment realized that all of her stories were about the past. And with this new perspective I listened with sensitivity, asked a few questions about the future, but in the end we were always in the past.
I learned in my last years of ministry that the past should not be forgotten. When crisis came (and it came often at this particular congregation), I found it interesting how the past was only seen through nostalgic lenses. They could remember robust numbers, money in the bank, and their personal small group making memories. However, they failed to tell the stories of preachers being fired, youth ministers being fired, college ministries being halted, a split that took half the church, moral failures on the part of members and leaders, elders becoming recluse, power struggles, and an overall distaste to really engage the community. They would cry out for 17 years ago and to return to those glory days, not realizing that it was in that same time period when half the church left over a plethora of issues and it being mishandled by the elders and leaders. Because the past was always cherry picked the mistakes made, continued to be made.
So somewhere there is balance. We cannot live in the past or we cannot grasp the present and the future becomes a scary unknown. We cannot forget the past or we continue to make the same mistakes and forget the God who led us through it all. There is a balance and finding it is a continual pursuit.
While there is something coming in m future, I cannot help but be mindful and hopefully honest about my past. So here is the past: I went to ACU for my undergrad and graduated with a Bible degree and youth ministry specialty. I worked while in college as a year-round, full-time youth intern. I started my first youth ministry position a few weeks after college graduation and was there for six years exactly. I began my second youth ministry position directly following that work and served there for six years and three months. Then I began a senior minister position and was there for six years and six months. I was an interim preacher following that position for 8 months. Alongside being an interim preacher I also began real estate and next week will be 4 years and counting. Two years ago in September I joined a ministry where I shepherd pastors.
That is the past with a bit of present sprinkled in. Stay tuned for what the future will be.
I learned in my last years of ministry that the past should not be forgotten. When crisis came (and it came often at this particular congregation), I found it interesting how the past was only seen through nostalgic lenses. They could remember robust numbers, money in the bank, and their personal small group making memories. However, they failed to tell the stories of preachers being fired, youth ministers being fired, college ministries being halted, a split that took half the church, moral failures on the part of members and leaders, elders becoming recluse, power struggles, and an overall distaste to really engage the community. They would cry out for 17 years ago and to return to those glory days, not realizing that it was in that same time period when half the church left over a plethora of issues and it being mishandled by the elders and leaders. Because the past was always cherry picked the mistakes made, continued to be made.
So somewhere there is balance. We cannot live in the past or we cannot grasp the present and the future becomes a scary unknown. We cannot forget the past or we continue to make the same mistakes and forget the God who led us through it all. There is a balance and finding it is a continual pursuit.
While there is something coming in m future, I cannot help but be mindful and hopefully honest about my past. So here is the past: I went to ACU for my undergrad and graduated with a Bible degree and youth ministry specialty. I worked while in college as a year-round, full-time youth intern. I started my first youth ministry position a few weeks after college graduation and was there for six years exactly. I began my second youth ministry position directly following that work and served there for six years and three months. Then I began a senior minister position and was there for six years and six months. I was an interim preacher following that position for 8 months. Alongside being an interim preacher I also began real estate and next week will be 4 years and counting. Two years ago in September I joined a ministry where I shepherd pastors.
That is the past with a bit of present sprinkled in. Stay tuned for what the future will be.
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