What Are We Missing Along The Way

Luke 24:13-15, “And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which is about seven miles from Jerusalem… While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.”

Why are we as a society, as mankind, so much about getting some place, obtaining some thing, completing, competing, achieving, building destroying, accumulating, and accomplishing? Why must everything have an end, a destination, a goal, a prize? Is the arrival happiness? Is there true joy or peace in achieving?

Cleopas & his companion walked seven miles with Jesus, Him talking a lot of the way, and did not see that it was the risen Lord until into the evening as they ate a meal. Were they overly concerned with getting to Emmaus? What prevented their eyes from recognizing Him?

What am I missing as I travel this life? How many times is He here with me, and I am unaware or unrecognizing?

This becomes my focus and the subject of my conversations with Christ through the Holy Spirit. How do I let go of the temporary nature of tomorrow, and live in the eternalness of today? How do I live in the daily murmuration of the Holy Spirit moving like one of the many starlings, independent yet in concert with the Maker?

Time and time and time and time again God says, it’s not about the destination. It is not about arriving, but it is about the walk, the journey, the daily recognition of Christ and the following Him. Life is not about what I can build. It is not about what I can accomplish. But what He can accomplish in me. Reiterating this point comes T Austin-Sparks in my daily reading. He wrote. “… that which is of supreme importance is not Christian doctrine, mentally appraised and apprehended, but a living and clear spiritual apprehension of Christ.”

What is important is that we recognize Christ with us in the journey. What is most important is that we recognize and follow Him. T Austin-Sparks continued, “The Lord would teach us… that the ground of assurance is not in our having decided for Christ, nor that we persist in the Christian life, nor that we feel strong, nor that we have certain ability as Christians and are able to do this or that. It is not the measure of our activity in the work of the Lord, nor any one of this things constitutes us is that Christ is the foundation, and that we are inseparably linked with Him by faith. EVERYTHING else can be suspended as secondary consideration until that is settled… If only in the face of all you may see of a multitude of contradictions in your own life in weaknesses, and imperfections, and lack of attainment, you will persistently believe in Him as having it in Himself to bring you through to the end, you will go through in spite of all…”

We cannot attain, obtain, or achieve anything beyond that which Christ already has. And the journey will teach us this if we are not looking for the Companion Who travels with us… Who we should be following.

When we follow Christ we lose concern for the destination. The only thing that is important is staying with and keeping up with Him. Consequently the journey becomes alive. The journey becomes the destination and in it are the joy, and peace, and patience, and understanding that comes from being in relationship to Christ. Recognize Christ in your journey and find the joy and peace you thought only existed in the destination. 

Getting Paid to Minister

1 Timothy 5:18, "For the scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,' and 'The laborer is worthy of his wages.'"

My wife and I just finished a discussion concerning my work effort and ability to provide for our family. The assessment is rather dismal, and though she appreciates the spiritual journey I am on, the practical side of life is bearing down with its burden. Do I continue to put the time into people and this blog, or do I reallocate that resource into finding a more promising career, or pursuing mortgages?

For me there is no other answer than to continue the spiritual journey. For Jamie it's time to fish or cut bait. It's a tough call for me. My wife is my number one ministry on this earth, so unless God can independently convince her (again) that I am doing the right thing. That this journey is His plan, along with the temporary discomfort of diminished resources, and is the absolute best for us both. If God does not confirm this for Jamie, then my only choice is to seek the unity of our relationship and change course. I think to deviate now will prolong the agony, but one thing is for sure, God can make it all work together for good. In fact, God has to make it all work together for good either way I go.

All of which begs the question, how do you get paid to minister? After all, if you're a full-time minister shouldn't God pay you for the work? In fact, how did Jesus get paid?

We know that there were certainly donations made to Jesus and the disciples. We see that in the disciples thinking the perfume used to anoint Him should have been sold so that they could have more to give to the poor. We know at the second feeding of the multitudes that there was savings in their possession equivalent to 10 months worth of wages because they considered buying the food. We know that Jesus owned a house, because when they tore the roof off it to lower the paralytic man "Jesus was at home."  We also know that when they had no money and needed it there was a silver coin found in a fish's mouth. But beyond that we have to assume that people gave Him and the disciples offerings.

We know that Paul made tents on the side for income, but we also know that churches supported his ministry by sending him offerings.

In modern day it seems that to get paid in ministry, the minister creates some sort of vehicle (non-profit) to collect the money. Often a church, but sometimes there is a para-church organization using projects to entice the giving in hopes there is some portion to go to financial support. The modern Evangelist, and now Apostle travel from church to church preaching for love offerings. But what are the other possibilities? Where is the creative miracle God is so famous for?

My friend Jim ministers to people one on one all day. He tells them all that he does not charge and is 100% dependent on God. And those same people and more contribute to him and his ministry in whatever way that can. So much so that the collective offering meets ALL his needs EVERY month. Jim's example to me is the closest I have seen to God's direct provision. Everything else has a business aspect to it.

I have been intimately involved with a few para-church organizations and fund raising has always been a problem and therefore a priority. The time, energy, and effort spent to raise money so that the ministry can be done is significantly more that the time spent in ministry. This should not be? So what happens is the business of ministry is developed, the patterns that create monetary success are defined, and creativity, flexibility, and obedience to the Holy Spirit are stifled. This stifling kills, and I see people everyday confused and wounded by the "business" of ministry.

God has a plan for me and the ministry He's called me too. I don't know what it is, but I know there's a plan. For Paul & Kristen that plan is a bed and breakfast retreat. But what is His plan for me?

It is this not knowing that in part drives me a little crazy. I can come up with hundreds of ideas of how to combine a non-church business with ministry. Say for example a coffee shop. After all, there is a lot of talking/consoling/ministry that goes on in coffee shops now. But what is God's plan? I know that it is not to create a church. But what?

If there is a plan at all, I think I will discover when I reach the point where I stop planning and only listen for His plan to come. And this is a spot I am very near to. I also think that I will hear the plan when I can be open to all possibilities, even possibilities I have never imagined.

At the same time I spend a lot of time illuminating what God is doing in others. Perhaps one of you has the illumination that I need. The statement of the obvious that I am missing.