Thursday 13 June 2013

Hope - Pray - Act

I have been thinking much about the traits of those in church I have encountered during my travels and find that there appears to be three specific categories; and whilst some will engage with all three, other might have but one or two of them in combination and this explains a great deal (if true) about what I find.

Here's a simple chart outlining the three traits according to some I meet:


'Nice' Christians
These are the really lovely folk who populate many of the congregations and really do 'hope' that those outside the Church are evangelised. They also hope that the Church will grow and hope that new buildings will be built and Common Purse payments made. These are the lovely, well-meaning people who wish those in the church, and beyond, well.

You probably know the people I'm talking about: Been in the church for years and never taken up a role in the fellowship but faithfully been coming. What they used to call a 'pew warmer' when I was a teenager. The road to hell, and decline, is paved with churches that are full of 'nice' Christians.

'Good' Christians
The people who have realised that prayer is an extremely valuable thing indeed, for when challenged they can say, 'Oh yes, of course, ler me pray about it!'

At one church I visited the minister pointed to someone and said, 'There's someone who will always pray when asked to get involved,' and then pointed at another person and said, 'And there's someone who will always get involved and prays!' They went on to explain that the 'more spiritual' answer to being asked to get involved was not, 'I'll have a think (or) perhaps,' but was, "I'll have to pray about it!'

Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying, for those who are true prayers are worth their weight in gold - for prayer is the key to successful engagement with the community and spiritually sound worship (which means word, music and prayer). But so many learn the Christianspeak that converts hope into pray and unless they are real - they are destined to produce little and destroy and impede more.

'Doing' Christians
Are the people who make things happen!

Well, that's what I was told (proudly) by one minister recently as they pointed out the people who were 'doing it'. The problem is that whilst this might make for busy and even successful church the people who work on the 'doing' model find themselves driven and their churches, and its life, hectic and full of busyness - there's no time to stop and pray - church becomes a treadmill on which many are driven until they burnout or drop.

I visited a quite successful place recently and there was a real buzz as people were engaged in doing stuff. 'If you give them a job as soon as you can they feel wanted and engaged,' said the person accompanying me, 'It gives them a purpose and makes them valued!'

I know I may be playing the pedant here but we are already valued and we have a purpose - 'The cross and our baptismal calling make this all too clear, so why artificially load the dice,' thought I, smiling and carrying on. This thought led me to a place where I came to the realisation (once again - for it's not rocket science) that the real key is to hold all three strands in tension. If we can do this then we become 'Real' Christians:



The reason for this is that we have a hope and this hope is focussed in engaged prayer and from this (because we do listen when we pray, don't we) comes the 'making it happen' bit.

I would like to think that the three traits inform and support each other for hope is desire and desire should lead us to to a place of action and there are times when this action is prayer and doing; the action being prayer alone is as valid a response as being action alone - just means your potentially doing it wrong!

Now there's a thought - hope, pray and do - three traits we should all hold in tension (and perhaps I should add 'Read' too?

watch this space

1 comment:

  1. hello,

    I have made amira basmati rice a few times and it’s SO good! We first tried it at a Lebanese restaurant and the chef described the process to me and I’ve even gotten my rice obsessed dad onto it

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