“Make Lemonade out of Lemons�

[CharlesFalcone]

Again, reading the forums has been a real encouragement. As a pastor myself, I can relate to the questions of “heart� that many of the other students struggle with. Is the ministry about “Mondays count�, the financial success of the church, the success of its programs, a conflict free church, or a good reputation in the community? Pastors cannot avoid the realities of church business. Yet these are all externals related to the institutional nature of the church, which employs many of us. Thank God for that institution, as flawed as it may be! The church is the way it is because of tradition, experience, reason and the influence of leadership. Rather than to complain about lemons, it is wise to make lemonade.

For example, when we prepare for a worship service, should that time be best spent hearing the genuine voice of God in scripture and prayer? Do we spend quality time on the message, music, prayer and sacrament, so that their message would be so clear to our visitors? And our office work should be the same way. Should we not give copious time listening and caring for broken parishioners? Should we not take careful attention in guiding parishioners towards mature discipleship? In this way the quality of ministry can never be reduced into numbers and statistics. Jesus said “feed� his sheep, and “take care of his lambs.� (John 20:15-17) as a pastor of a small congregation, this greatly encourages me. The Holy Spirit is able to use even faulty people like us to connect with our parishioners in real life transformation.