Devoted service or workaholic?

Where does the line lie between wholehearted service for Jesus Christ and being a workaholic?

These words appeared during the week in a 'tweet' from a friend and colleague, John Truscott, who works as a Church Consultant.  Church management is one of the areas in which he specialises and from time to time he broadcasts these 'tweeted' wise words to all and sundry.  My immediate response to his question was to suggest that it lies somewhere between the heart and head, by which I meant that service for Jesus should always be a matter of the heart.  Becoming a workaholic suggests, to me a problem of mental attitude.  I later added a 'tweet' of my own commenting that since God sometimes says "No" to things he is asked to do, it also means that it is right for us to sometimes say "No" too.

Of course, it isn't simple.  It may also not come as a surprise that I am often asked whether I am doing more than I should.  Many years I discovered that I was suffering from stress because I allowed myself to submissively accept all that my immediate superior dumped on me.  Every few months I would become mentally confused, unable to finish sentences because I couldn't remember what I wanted to say.  After giving me a thorough check up after one of these turns, my doctor told me that there were two possible things he could prescribe.  The first,he told me, was a course of Valium   I asked what the alternative treatment was, and was informed that it was learning to say "No".

I started saying "No" the next time a pile of work was about to be added to my existing heavy load.  I was informed that this was an 'ungodly reaction' but I stood my ground and haven't had a funny turn since that day over 30 years ago.  But I recognise that one of my weaknesses is not letting go or putting down that which God no longer expects me to carry.  I remember how surprised I was when I discovered that the Minister who had baptised me in my teens had some years later left the ministry and taken up a secular job.  But when I asked him about this he replied that God had called him into pastoral ministry and had later called him out of it.  If that is true then I wonder which step called for the greater faith and courage.

Of course there are some times when taking on a responsibility does not need a revelation from God.  In the parable of the Good Samaritan we are told that the priest and Levite just happened to be going that way.  We are not told that any of the three who saw the man were told by God to do something about it.  But one man did do something about it because he loved his neighbour.  Of course it was the right thing to do and he put the 'holy' men to shame.  But doing the right thing on that occasion was risky, inconvenient and costly.  I also surmise that he would have got messy in the process.

Avoiding doing the right think because we have not had a special revelation, or because of concern about the consequences will never excuse us in the Day of Judgement.  But perhaps when faced with a situation that demands our response we may need to say what do I need to stop doing or put down first.

The Past Week

It was a bit of a rush to get home from Yelvertoft and then back to Hothorpe Hall with everything ready for the service of marriage blessing in the afternoon.  Loraine and John had especially wanted this service and had even asked for communion afterwards.  All went well and the opportunity to share the good news through all the symbols was eagerly grasped.  I often wonder why Jesus used his power at the wedding in Cana just to ensure that folk had a good time.

It was good to meet in the week with Mike and Brian, two Methodist Ministers with hearts for rural evangelism.  I now have to follow up on the offers I made.  I get so encouraged when I find others whose heart God has touched for the millions of men women and children in rural Britain.

I am very grateful for those who sent donations following the letter setting out the need for extra support in these difficult financial days.  In addition to the gifts that were received there has also been a small response to the need to develop the Mission Link Scheme.  This is nothing to do with Doreen's and my personal needs; it is creating a strong base to ensure that the ministry is enabled.  Hopefully you read the Concerned About Rural Evangelism leaflet, but if not email me for another copy.  We do not need a huge amount of income but we cannot keep running at a loss!

Another great joy through the week has been the enquiries regarding the post of Children's and Families Worker for the East Midlands Area of the Congregational Federation.  Please pray as people consider taking up this post.  The deadline for applications is the end of October.  This is an exciting new opportunity and a very real need for the person with the right ministry.

Prayers this week please

• Give thanks for the financial support so far received in response to the recent letter.
• Give thanks for opportunities to share God's word through the week, especially at last Sunday's Marriage Blessing.
• Please pray for the ministry at Yelvertoft this Sunday morning and at Newton, near Rugby this Sunday evening.
• Please pray for the residential meeting of the Churches Group for Evangelization as we meet on Monday and Tuesday at High Leigh.
• Please pray for the Bible Discussion Group meeting on Thursday morning in Yelvertoft.
• Please pray for our church at Theddingworth as they celebrate harvest and seek to us this to share the gospel.
• Please pray for the work of Action for Christ.  Together with two other trustees and our part time admin staff I have been working for the past few months to rescue this work following problems created under previous management.  The next few weeks are critical for that organisation.
• Pray for next weekend as Yelvertoft Congregational Church celebrates its 350th anniversary with special events on Saturday and Sunday 20th and 21st October.
• Please pray that the gospel message shared through the past week will produce a harvest in the lives of those who heard it.
• Please pray for Brian, Rural Officer for Northampton Methodist District and Mike, a Circuit Rural Officer with whom I met in the week.
• Please pray for the trustees of Sunrise Ministries, that they may have wisdom in their responsibilities.
• Please pray for more small links in the Mission Link Scheme to keep our ministry on the road.
• Please pray for those who have received information about the Children and Families Worker that God will give guidance as we seek to fill this new post.

Thank you for your faithfulness.  We have a God who hears and answers prayer.

Barry

A certain irony

Dear friends,

I want to start by thanking all who look up this blog on a fairly basis.  I do value your interest and prayers.

The days of the past week have mainly been spent focused on either my church at Yelvertoft or Action for Christ, the mission organisation I have been drafted in to help.

Yelvertoft
Despite quite a number being absent because of health problems or on holiday we managed to have a reasonable congregation on Sunday morning for a church in a small village.  If we managed to get everyone of our regular folk together we would now be over 20, having started with around four.  We praise God.  Meetings are always a great encouragement to me.

On Monday evening we held a Church Meeting (this is the governing meeting within Congregational churches) where some good work was done.  Particularly encouraging was progress with our building alterations.  The total project which will make substantial improvements for disabled access and facilities, reorder our kitchen and put semi-glazed doors in the porch, will cost just over £20,000.  This seemed a high mountain to climb but a gift day brought in around £6,000 and this has grown to around £8,000.  We have some investments that can be drawn down (though the church has been dependent upon interest income) so we have enough to start the first phase.

News reached me last Sunday of a man in the village who had died in tragic circumstances.  During the week this man's mother phoned and I have been asked to help them organise the funeral service.  I was in Sussex when this request came through but have visited his parents on my return.  Chris was well known in the village and the nature of his death will have impact.  Please pray as I support those who feel this loss most intensely.

On Thursday we welcomed a visit from friends at Hinckley URC and it was our joy to bless them with hospitality.

Action for Christ
As a result of the sale of property in the past this organisation, in which I worked from 1963 to 1988, had a healthy bank balance up to about three years ago.  Since then it has generously supported three people in their ministry and provided a free design and print service for small churches.  This generosity and some other factors had significantly reduced the assets of the organisation.  Meanwhile the trustees were having difficulty obtaining information needed to run the organisation efficiently.  Once this situation became known, about the same time I was appointed a trustee, the right steps were taken.

Making all the much needed changes has been somewhat like turning around an oil tanker travelling at full speed at sea.  We are not quite there yet.  Fortunately we have an excellent trustee team and a loyal and dedicated staff.  Tough decisions have had to be made - and may yet have to be made.  Quite apart from the funds that have been given away the organisation seems to have been running for several years with expenditure greater than income.

You will understand that dealing with this has taken up a substantial amount of my time.  It has had to take priority over other activities, but I have felt that providing help is the right thing to do.  I would have felt like the Levite and Priest who "passed by on the other side" had I not stopped to help.  Though I think that the Good Samaritan was more generous than I have been!

On Tuesday evening I travelled to East Sussex and on Wednesday I spent the morning and afternoon at the mission's offices helping the former Development Director remove personal property he had stored there.  In the evening I travelled to Dunks Green, a small hamlet near Tonbridge, Kent where the charity owns a church building.  Here I found a small but enthusiastic group of Christians who have maintained the only visible Christian presence in that community.  I was delighted to find them in good heart and the interior of the building clearly well maintained.  What was even more delightful was that some of them remembered the outreach many years before in which I was involved, and could name the team members and describe the activities.

On returning home there have been many phone conversations, a Skype Video Conference, and time spent drafting a letter to the organisation's supporters.  If the organisation is to have a future it will need  to refocus its vision and will need a sufficient support base of prayer partners and individual and church sponsors.

A Certain Irony
While the time spent on activities at Yelvertoft are an existing and regular part of my rural ministry (I am engaged and paid for two days each week), helping to steer AfC through this difficult time is additional work on top of a busy agenda.  The irony is that while seeking to help AfC, our own rural ministry is in need!  As I shared last week, despite operating economically, income to my part of Sunrise Ministries (the charity name of Rural Sunrise/ Rural Mission Solutions) has not matched the ministry costs since the credit crunch of 2008.

But our experience of salvation is rooted in the generosity of God.  It is a generosity that is immensely costly.  "Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich" 2Corinthians 8:9 (para).  In the light of such indescribable generosity, and when others are in need, we have no option but to put others before ourselves.  Our trust is in the Lord.

Prayer Points:

• Give thanks for God's faithfulness and goodness in our lives
• Give thanks for the teamwork within AfC and also within Yelvertoft Congregational Church
• Give thanks for the existing body of prayer partners and supporters both for AfC and Rural Mission Solutions
• For wisdom for the AfC trustees as we seek to manage the present challenging situation
• For a refreshed or renewed vision for the ministry of AfC
• For the development of a solid prayer and support base for the ministry of AfC
• That arrangements for the move of AfC offices will go smoothly
• For the parents and brother of Chris, the man who has died in tragic circumstances
• For wisdom in planning funeral arrangements as this will impact the village
• For a continuing fruitful ministry in the village of Yelvertoft
• For wisdom - and practical help - to enable me to manage other demands on my time in ministry while AfC has to become a priority at the present

Barry