Brian @ Wongside

I was contacted by a writer of ALCF’s Abundant Living Magazine a couple of weeks ago. I guess they have a picture of me running sound in the GX room for the Student Ministries Department (SMD), and they wanted a quote from me. The question?

We wanted to know if you could provide us a quote about how serving in the ministry has enhanced your walk with Christ.

How has serving in this ministry enhanced my walk with Christ? Interesting question…

And quite frankly, as I pondered it, I was really stumped. I guess I never really stopped to consider it.

Ultimately, here’s a few quotes I was able to come up with for them:

• Running sound for Student Ministries has allowed me to use God-given talents to serve the students in our church, and its a blessing to share and serve with them.
• As I’ve led this ministry, it has been a blessing to watch students grow and take ownership over the area of Sound and Audio.
• I’m blessed that Pastor Kevin was willing to find a place for me to serve our youth even though I’ve been unable to commit to attending every week due to my work schedule.

Does that work?  I have no idea. I guess I’ll find out when the issue of the magazine comes out.

But in the mean time, I’m left pondering the original question. And in fact, the broader context of the question itself: Should (every) ministry enhance my walk with Christ? For that matter, what does it mean to even say that a ministry even “enhances my walk with Christ”?

It’s something I’m still wrestling with even a few weeks removed from the original query.

I guess, in a very real sense, I’ve always figured that ministry was just something to be done.  With apologies to Descartes: I’m a Christian, therefore I participate in ministry. It was never really something to be questioned. I do it out of obedience to Christ. If I’m tired, and don’t want to get out of bed to participate in my ministry, I get out of bed anyways. It’s my duty. And on those days when “ministry” is really a synonym for “drudgery,” I do it anyways because I’m supposed to.

Maybe it’s not supposed to be that way. Maybe I should always be passionate and blessed by the ministries in which I participate. Maybe they should all enhance my walk with Christ. If they’re not a blessing to me, I shouldn’t do them.

But that position doesn’t make sense either. Since when is my personal pleasure and gratification the gauge by which I measure my ministry? I’ll guarantee you that Jesus wasn’t feeling personal pleasure or gratification in the Garden of Gethsemane. Quite the opposite.

So perhaps the balance lies somewhere in the middle (as it often does). I guess I’ll need to do more research on this matter. I certainly don’t consider it resolved in my mind.

What do you think?