Here, you will throw away three years of work in a heartbeat, because the moment rules. This is spontaneous combustion ministry. You have never met a culture like this one. Brenda is so sick, yet she has 34 women leaders from all over Macedonia coming to town today for the very first ENTRUST seminar. Brenda has been dreaming about this, working on this, translating for this, developing this . . . for three years. Yet she is so sick that she can hardly get out of bed or stand up.
So as we were discussing this sick leader, e.g. my wife, the president’s wife suggested that we postpone the weekend, or rather move it to another weekend. Although people all over the country had re-arranged their lives in order to come here for two days, although mountains of materials have been purchased, although tons of food has been bought, although we have mobilized dozens of people to pull this conference off, N. was willing to change the lives of 50 plus people, simply because Brenda was sicker than a dog.
What N. was suggesting has happen countless times to us over the years here. A meeting that has been planned for months, can be cancelled in a moments notice if any minor thing comes up, because in this culture, the urgency of the immediate is so high. Spontaneous reaction to every little thing that calls on the phone or shows up at your door, burns up every type of planning that you could possibly envision . . . I know, because I am the planner dude. Spontaneous in work is an anathema to me. In my personal life its OK, but in work, never. Well, until the Balkans happened.
It is more than a bit flabbergasting to see how willing leaders are to forfeit years of work in the stress of the moment. There is little doubt about why it is nearly impossible to have continuity in work and strategy. This is the bad side of spontaneous combustion in ministry. You can’t measure anything concrete, because you can’t sustain or strategize anything . . . well at least in a Western manner.
The good side of it is this, that success or failure is measured only by the relational consequences, and nothing else. How much time, money, years, effort, strategy, nor materials matters hardly at all. The simple fact is that N. cares more about Brenda in the moment than she does about all the years of work that have gone into this seminar.
How do you measure success or failure in this context? Only by your relationships. Yet we come here with our denomination, our plans, our personnel, our mandate, our resources, our knowledge, our ideas, our strategies . . . . and frankly they are all completely useless without relationship . . . continuous careful attention to community and relationship. While my culture is not wired this way, and consequently neither am I, it seems apparent that God is and I need to be.
Now if I can only stop working and producing long enough to hang out and enjoy, I may yet be saved.
So as we were discussing this sick leader, e.g. my wife, the president’s wife suggested that we postpone the weekend, or rather move it to another weekend. Although people all over the country had re-arranged their lives in order to come here for two days, although mountains of materials have been purchased, although tons of food has been bought, although we have mobilized dozens of people to pull this conference off, N. was willing to change the lives of 50 plus people, simply because Brenda was sicker than a dog.
What N. was suggesting has happen countless times to us over the years here. A meeting that has been planned for months, can be cancelled in a moments notice if any minor thing comes up, because in this culture, the urgency of the immediate is so high. Spontaneous reaction to every little thing that calls on the phone or shows up at your door, burns up every type of planning that you could possibly envision . . . I know, because I am the planner dude. Spontaneous in work is an anathema to me. In my personal life its OK, but in work, never. Well, until the Balkans happened.
It is more than a bit flabbergasting to see how willing leaders are to forfeit years of work in the stress of the moment. There is little doubt about why it is nearly impossible to have continuity in work and strategy. This is the bad side of spontaneous combustion in ministry. You can’t measure anything concrete, because you can’t sustain or strategize anything . . . well at least in a Western manner.
The good side of it is this, that success or failure is measured only by the relational consequences, and nothing else. How much time, money, years, effort, strategy, nor materials matters hardly at all. The simple fact is that N. cares more about Brenda in the moment than she does about all the years of work that have gone into this seminar.
How do you measure success or failure in this context? Only by your relationships. Yet we come here with our denomination, our plans, our personnel, our mandate, our resources, our knowledge, our ideas, our strategies . . . . and frankly they are all completely useless without relationship . . . continuous careful attention to community and relationship. While my culture is not wired this way, and consequently neither am I, it seems apparent that God is and I need to be.
Now if I can only stop working and producing long enough to hang out and enjoy, I may yet be saved.
1 comment:
amen and amen
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