About
five or six years ago a minister told me he thought he would probably go to
prison one day because the teachings of the Bible would become so politically
incorrect that they would actually be illegal. I remember thinking, “Wow, I
hope this fellow’s concern is a crazy, extreme exaggeration.” But the guy did
not seem like a kook. I did not know him well but he was smart, educated and eloquent.
He seemed like a reasonable, credible, sane person.
Last
week I was at an event and during a conversation with a pastor who is a friend
of mine he told me, “I think there’s a possibility I will go to prison before I
retire from ministry.” He basically invoked the same reasons the other minister
mentioned. This man is in his early 60s.
I
thought, “Hmm that’s two guys, now, who have shared this concern with me.”
Yesterday
I was talking with yet another pastor who is a good friend and I mentioned
these previous conversations. My friend said, “Yeah, I think that’s a
possibility.”
That
sound you just heard was me gulping.
I went
into pastoral ministry in my mid-thirties. Entering the ministry as a vocation involved
a significant change for my family and myself. So I had to think and pray about
the matter a lot. It took me a couple of years to come to a sense of certainty
that the call to ministry was, in fact, a genuine calling from God.
When I
was thinking, praying and talking with people I trusted about this matter—I hate
to admit it—but the idea of having to stand up for God facing truly difficult
circumstances like, say, the possibility of prison never really entered my mind
in any significant way. (The worst case scenario I imagined was putting several
people asleep in the same service.)
I don’t
know if these men are way off base—and if their concerns are just plain silly—or
if what they are saying has some likelihood of happening. But what they have
said makes me think about myself and my commitment to Christ.
To be
very frank, I have never seen myself as a courageous warrior for the faith.
This is not false modesty it’s just an honest, somewhat embarrassing,
admission. But when my friend and I finished our meeting yesterday we prayed—as
we normally do—and I prayed that he and I would always be willing to lovingly,
graciously speak God’s truth no matter what the cost.
I
realize this is a somewhat personal post. I am sharing it with you because I
find the comments of my colleagues to be interesting and I thought you might
find them interesting, as well. Also, I am sharing this because I want to be on
record saying, “It is my desire to stand for God’s truth with love, gentleness,
respect and grace and to trust in God as my protector.” I pray the Holy Spirit
will empower me to do this.
P.S. I
came across this quote from the respected Christian writer and thinker, A.W.
Tozer, several years ago. I know I’ve shared it before but I continue to share
it because it is very meaningful to me...
“Whoever
defends himself will have himself for his defense, and he will have no other.
But let him come defenseless before the Lord and he will have for his defender
no less than God himself.” A..W. Tozer
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