Poetry

Written: February 12, 2008

I am currently reading this book entitled, “The Externally Focused Church.” Most books that have a class assignment strapped to them are fairly good, but you’re not all that disappointed when it is over. There are a few take-away points from the book, but for the most part, you are left wishing for your ten or so hours back. This book, however, I just can’t seem to put down. I am supposed to attend a basketball game tonight with a friend but keep checking the clock to see when I must, begrudgingly, put down the book and get ready to leave. I think the thing I love so much about the book is that the authors speak my language. As I grapple for what ministry will look like through me as the Minister of Education at Gentilly Baptist, this book is poetry to me. In summary, the book speaks about the church being a blessing to the community by being a source of unique service to it. It is difficult to inspire a church to move toward anything when you have no motivation or idea where you are moving either. I often felt like the church was this big, overgrown mass that the couple of staff members and I were trying to figure out what to with. With so few leaders, we were pushing an elephant up a hill with no idea how far we had to go. But, I can get behind this message. It is just unique enough and has the potential to take on such a life of its own, that it is a message I can get behind. At one point, the authors discuss how they knew of a church that threw a Super Bowl party in the nicest room of the church for the homeless community. They mention another church that threw a dance for a nearby retirement community were young men danced with the elderly ladies and vice versa. I love these ideas. The authors state,

“A dance and a Super Bowl party... what do they mean? Are they expressions of mercy? Are they expressions of justice? Maybe they simply reflect love- doing unto a neighbor what you’d like done for you if you were in his or her shoes. When a woman poured out a flask of perfume on Jesus, the disciples exclaimed indignantly, “Why this waste?...This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor” (Matthew 26:8-9). The spiritual bookkeepers of the world love a return on their investments, but what Jesus asks us to do can’t be measured in those terms. Jesus replied to the disciples, “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Matthew 26:10b). [Here’s the best line!]Sometimes things shouldn’t be measured in terms of better or best, but of beauty.”

I’ll admit... I’m not all that good at administrative work. I don’t always ask the right questions, lead to the right places, or anticipate every need, but I do register with this. I embrace and delight in thinking of all the possible ways to minister to the community. I can get excited about showing Jesus to people by way of not only meeting their needs, but by serving them beyond their needs. This excites me. This is something I can wrap a ministry identity around. It is inspiring to me. A wise mentor of mine once brought great clarity to my seemingly unrelated list of interests: photography, working with youth, interior design, seminary, hiking, writing, etc. She said that I just want to create beauty to share with others. It has been years since she said this to me, but the words still ring so true. I think of them quite often. I think it just came down to understanding how this deep-seeded desire found its voice in work with a little hurting church in New Orleans. Praise God for offering hope, joy, and beauty to our lives!

Excited about the possibilities,
Stefanie