Lost in Translation

My dad hired fishing guide Ross Crowe for a day on Rainy Lake on Thursday. Believe me when I say it was the best walleye fishing I've ever had! We caught over 50 fish in total, and I think that I landed about 20. We had to throw back about 7 because they were in the slot size (about 20-23 inches each). Ross takes you to the best spots and has great equipment and had just the right hints to help us catch fish. He showed us where to find the walleyes (hidden reefs not on the topo maps are best), what bait to use (minnows on orange/red/black jigs), what rod to use (sensitive graphite), and how to fish (use a Lowrance sonar to find the fish and stay in one spot no more than 20 minutes because there are only so many active feeders).

Well, after the thrill of victory on Thursday, Dad and I took Holly out on Friday. I figured that we could give her a little of our experience. Wrong! Can you say "agony of defeat"? We got basically skunked (Dad caught a baby walleye) and came back wet and cold.

This made me think about ministry. Why is it that some churches flourish like the fishing with Ross, while others languish like our experience yesterday? I obviously don't have any definitive answers, but here are a few of my thoughts. (Note: These are not formulas to success, rather they are emphases that lead to God's blessing. He's ultimately the One who blesses or withholds his blessing.)

1) How central is the gospel to your ministry? The more we can center our lives and ministries on the gospel (the fact that Jesus died for our sins), the more we will see God's blessing. Now, numbers don't give us a good indication about how central the gospel is to a given ministry. I know that some ministries in difficult countries (e.g. Germany) may be more gospel-centered than a ministry with big numbers in an "easier" place of ministry (e.g. Brazil). My question is, "How gospel-centered is the average member in my church?" In other words, when a conflict comes up, does your average member think about the cross, or think about other things? What motivates our members? It should be the love of Christ in the cross (2 Cor. 5:14-15), but I'm afraid that's far from many people's minds on a regular basis.


2) How well are you working as a team in your ministry? The longer I serve as a missionary the more I see that one guy cannot build a ministry like a team can (even Paul worked with a team). Are we looking for qualified servants in our churches and training them for ministry? Are we handing over ministries that do not match our gifts and abilities? Are we humble enough to work with a team and hear them tell us what we're doing wrong?


3) Are we passionate about Jesus Christ and the ministry we're involved in? I've seen a number of churches in which it seems that no one is passionate about anything (except maybe sports). I tend to be a fairly laid back guy, but I've realized that I need to grow in passion for Jesus Christ and ministry. I'm asking God to change me. I'm not content with where I'm at.

We also need to be passionate about the location and people we are called to serve. As one writer said, you need be able to say "Give me [insert your location here] or I die!" This passion for Jesus Christ and a love for the people should translate into a passion for evangelism. Just as we caught a lot of fish with Ross, we should long for a sould harvest in our communities. It's happened before; why can't it happen again?

These are just a few things I've been thinking about as a result of our fishing trip...