Yikes

As those of you who study the calender in the "Weekly" closely know, I've been in Grand Rapids the past few days. Some of you may wonder what I'm actually doing here (besides enjoying the fabulous West Michigan Weather--Rain, drizzle, rain, drizzle, clouds, drizzle repeat...). So I'll tell you...

Today I spent my time today (Thurs) with a dozen other preachers speaking with Scott Hoezee, the directer for the Center for Excellence in Preaching (CEP). The main topic was how to make the Center's website more user friendly and useful. This discussion was the primary reason the CEP flew me out to Grand Rapids. It was a good day--I met some great folks, got to talk about preaching (which I love), and I'm excited to see what changes are going to come at the CEP in the (near?) future.

The other perk of the trip was that I got to take in a preaching conference yesterday (Wed). The theme of the conference was "Preaching, Pain, and Pastoral Identity" (sounds like fun, doesn't it?!). It was primarily structured around Paul's experiences in ministry (particularly, but not exclusively, with the church in Corinth). The point was to draw analogies between what Paul experienced in ministry (and how he handled it) and what we can expect to experience in ministry (and how to handle it). If you know anything about Paul's ministry, you'll know that "encouraging" or "cheery" might be the wrong word to describe the topic at hand.

Throughout his letters, Paul doesn't hesitate to talk about the great suffering he has endured for the gospel. Paul endured shipwrecks and beatings, slander and imprisonment. And here's the thing--he expects all those who follow Christ to endure something of the same (not just leaders in the church!)

There are probably a lot of different reasons for that. But the main one is simple--that pattern of cross shaped living is one that Christ laid out for us. He suffered, and so shall we. If you read Paul, or Peter, or Jesus himself, it's hard to come to any other conclusion.*

That's a tough sell. It's not exactly "seeker friendly" to tell people who want to follow Jesus to shoulder a cross. It'd be a lot easier to think that Jesus calls us to a life that is comfortable, a life where all our problems are washed away with our sins, a life of "success."

But Jesus doesn't do that. He calls us to die (and rise!) daily. So here's the question: What does that look like in our lives? Chances are that most of us won't give up our life itslef at thius point. But what will we give up? Food for thought...


*"It is clear that since God leads those he loves by way of trials, the more he loves them, the more difficult the way will be." (St. Teresa of Avila)