Well Played Grandma Quincy

My mom’s mother, Grace Quincy, was a soft-spoken woman who was a deeply devoted Christian.

When I was a young boy she said, on several occasions, “I think Danny will be a minister someday.”

For some reason that bothered me. I think part of what bothered me was the idea that someone could in some way predict the direction of my life to that degree. In fact, there was a part of me that thought: “Just because she predicts I will be a minister I definitely will make sure that I will not be a minister.”

I was not against God. I was not against ministers. I just did not like the idea of someone making that type of prediction regarding my life.

Another reason this bothered me was—I hate to say it, but this was my opinion way back then—I thought of being a minister as something very bland. As a young boy I did not know what I would do when I grew up but I dreamed it would be something exciting. Something fun. Even something full of action packed adventure. Like… say… being a ninja… or something along those lines.

Hey, what can I tell you? That’s probably what lots of little boys hope and dream will happen.

And, in my thinking, being a minister was not a life of action packed adventure.

I never told Grandma Quincy I would not be a minister. In my mind, that would have been disrespectful and I never would have done such a thing. But I determined that I would not be a minister.

In the meantime, Grandma Quincy just took the matter to God in prayer.

You already see where this is going… don’t you?

At the age of 35, after working in the business world for a number of years, I became a pastor of a church. For a number of reasons I won’t go into in this post, this was a somewhat unlikely scenario. (Some would say I’m not really “minister material.”)

The little boy, now grown up, who said he would definitely make sure he would not be a minister is a pastor of church.

Every now and then when I’m sitting in my office, here at the church, I think about the story I’ve written here for your reading enjoyment and I think, “Well played, Grandma Quincy. Well played.”

Will Standing Up For God's Truth Be Costly?

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