As I get thrust into situations where I have to address situations in a church (not any specific church but one that I may work at in the future - certainly none that I'm involved with today) where I have to minister with (1) people who lovingly serve the church as devoted volunteers, (2) people who have been in the church longer than I have, and (3) will be at a church long after I leave. Some of these people may have projects that are near and dear to their hearts and may take offense if they believe they are given less than equal "billing." As such I wonder...
1. What does it mean to practice equal treatment for all? Do that mean that everyone gets the same number of minutes at announcement time? That everyone gets the same amount of space in the newsletter? Does it mean that everyone gets the same level of funding for their project? I'm inclined to say tha tequal treatment for all is more about not biasing in one direction or the other - everyone gets the same opportunity for "press" or time. I can't give more time and effort to someone's project just because I like that project. But it doesn't seem to be that easy - I can be blinded by my personal bias in unexpected ways.
2. How do I know when I'm doing things in love, especially with people who have different priorities than I do? Seems easier, if I think I'm not doing something in love then I certainly am not. But just like #1, it's not that simple in my experience. I guess that having someone to critically look at what's going on is helpful.
3. How do I prevent myself from being a "people pleaser?" Good question - if I figure this out I'll be thrilled.
4. How do I ensure that I keep the "other" as a person who is made and living into the image of God in their life and our mutual life together? It starts by reminding myself that all people who faithfully live into their relationship with God are conducting vital ministry for God. If I keep that as my focus then that makes good headway into keeping the other person as being one who has the image of God.
5. How do I prevent being overrun by the distortion of importance, specifically between the eternal and temporal? I understand that we need to be fixed on the eternal part of our life but our eternal life is of little consequence if the day-to-day life isn't sustained and held up.
6. How do I discern which voice belongs to God and which voice belongs to doubt? One is laden with joy and the other with accusatory tones.
Thoughts?
No comments:
Post a Comment