Contentment...Again

January 17, 2015

Once upon a time, I had things to accomplish, mountains to climb, victories to win. I didn't start out that way; one would be hard pressed to have found a least competitive boy or teenager than I. Even in my early years of ministry, I felt little need to prove myself. Our first church in Alma, NY, could hold about thirty people if they packed in shoulder to shoulder, but that little community was home, and I would have been content to serve there my entire life. I had no ambition to climb any ecclesiastical ladder. As far as I was concerned, I would have been content to be buried under the firs in the cemetery just a stone's throw from the church.

It wasn't until much later that I became discontented. I don't know exactly when it happened. I was busy with pastoral duties; preaching, visiting the sick, going from home to home, when the discontentment began to grow within me till one day I realized that if I had to do ministry this way for the rest of my life, I couldn't stand it. Fortunately, I had a district superintendent who thought outside the box and challenged me to think of ministry differently. Bob Pascoe literally saved my ministry and my life. I knew that I wanted the church to be more than it was, and worked hard to accomplish my dream. I wasn't contented to just go through the motions anymore. So I learned; I worked hard; we made mistakes, but we also made decisions to move beyond the invisible barriers that so often leave churches mired in the status quo. The church grew, and as John Maxwell wisely said, "Small church, small problems; big church, big problems." We had our share of those problems, but the rewards of seeing people grow in Christ far outweighed the disappointment and pain of seeing others choosing paths that led to hurt, pain, and estrangement.

And now, having handed a healthy congregation to my successor, I am once more content. There is still much to be done, much to accomplish. My life is not over, so neither is my calling or my work. But whatever lies before me, I come to it content in who I am in Christ and what I've done in Christ. After all, it is all by grace that we come and stand and do. And for that alone, I am thankful.