As a Christian leader there are many voices that call out to you. Voices in distress, voices seeking a listening ear, voices of desperation, voices wanting others to join in celebration. Every Christian leader must be good listener. We must be sensitive and responsive to those who seek our ministry. We must even sometimes seek out those who do not actively seek us. Ministry is about reaching out to others and improving their quality of life to the glory of Christ.
As we listen to others we must note that there are some voices that we are prone to ignore. These are the voices that come from our homes. The voices of our children, our spouses, those who eat at the same table with us. We often take them for granted. We allow the other voices to crowd them out. We place them on a waiting list. Our families are crying. They want us to celebrate with them, share in their pain, cry with them, be silent and comfortable in their presence.
Ever so often our family members reach out to us, not for our wisdom or expertise but for our loving, reassuring presence. They need to know we care and that we love them. They reach out for us not because we impress them but because they love us.
Those of us who cannot listen to voices from home damage our own credibility as we seek to answer to the many calls from outside. Every leader must declare: "I am on call and my family has my special number."
4 comments:
I find "When Family Calls" very interesting, as it prompts me to reflect on what my response to my family's call should be, when I finally tie the knot in the near future. I agree unequivocally with the implication that when the people in our immediate circle--our family members in this case--have our listening ears, love and care we are better ministers; and the contrary ensues when they don't.
This leads to the question: what can the church and theological colleges do to better equip the minister to effectively respond to the personal call of his/her family, and the vocational call of ministry and society or the many other voices that are honing for the minister's attention?
Cornel
an honest yet sad case of neglect faced by many families todays. the absence of the caregiver who is busy giving care else where is frowned upon as the caretaker. its a struggle to strike the balance to offer that listening ear to our families that so often desperately call out to us. when did it became O.K for us to put of families last? who ever said that our families should come second to the church? who should be more important to us, family or the church? and if needs be, how can we ever strike the balance? it would be very interesting to find out.
I agree with you on this Rev. But I want to ask what does one do when one has tried with your immediate family. You have been there being supportive and giving of self but yet there is no change there seems to be no growth in the lives of the persons maybe on all levels, I want to know is it ok to quit listening and just begin to focus your energies outside or on improving yourself? I hope you get what i'm asking (lol)
I am convinced Camille that our openness to living unselfishly is not dependent on the responses that we get from those we reach out to. Loving unconditionally is deeply spiritual and it will depend on the enabling of the Spirit.
Care for souls is what all caregivers must engage in consistently and wholeheartedly. We do this not for our own benefit but for the upliftment of those to whom we give care. As we lean on Christ we say like Christ, Cast your cares on me because I care. In the midst of selfishness, insensitivity, ingratitude and unresponsiveness let us continue to care. It is loving that really makes us human.
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