Salt and Light in Unsettling Times

The Gospel, Learning, and Buster Brown

Many of you know that last spring I adopted an almost 6-year-old rescue dog. Buster Brown is a boxer mix who is teaching me new things about ministry in this era. Here are some things that you should know about Buster Brown (and about many of the people that God has called us to reach).

·       Buster has a history that influences his life.

o   He was abused as many people have been abused.

§  So, Buster can be slow to trust.

§  Buster does not warm up to men very quickly. I assume that he was abused by a man.

§  Even when we encountered a sweet little girl on a trail in City Park, he cowered in fear because she was carrying a stick.

o   I am finding that more and more of the people that I encounter in ministry have some kind of abuse that tinges how they interact with the world. People have been abused, promises have been broken, and they have experienced abandonment.

·       When Buster finds a safe and comfortable space, he tends to want to stay there.

o   Boxers are known for being high-energy dogs who want to get out and go. Buster does like to go to the park and run zoomie laps in the backyard. Yet, most of the time, he is a couch potato.

o   This too is a trait that I am finding more often in people. They are withdrawing into what feel like safe spaces for themselves.

§  On a warm day, you may see teenagers walking down the street, wearing a mask, and with their hoods up on their sweatshirts. There may not be another person within 100 yards, but they have withdrawn into a safe space.

§  Others are withdrawing into technology or gaming into environments where they can control the outcome.

·       If I go out for the team or audition for the band or choir, I might not make the cut, or it may be more difficult than I anticipated.

·       But here on my phone, I am in control and I like the way it makes me feel.

·       Buster Brown is sweet and street smart, but at times he is not very open to new learning.

o   Learning requires risk. It means admitting that I am not fully self-sufficient.

o   Some level of vulnerability is required in learning. This is true for both pets and people.

o   This is especially true in the spiritual realm. After all, people who are unable to acknowledge their own sinful shortcomings will never confess the need for a savior.

·       So, with Buster Brown, I am learning to enjoy the journey and even take it at his pace.

o   If I ignore his background and his difficulty trusting, we are just both frustrated.

o   I am focused on building that strong relationship with him so that he knows how much I care about him. That is vital.

o   By the way, discipline with Buster is difficult. Even if I raise my voice a little, he runs away and shuts down.

 While all this may seem particularly relevant to our time in history, God acted in ways that were apropos for us 2000 years ago in the incarnation.

 Philippians 2:1-11 (NIV)

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

This passage from the Apostle Paul may have been Paul quoting a hymn. Or maybe his words became the lyrics to an early hymn. As I look at this passage, I see 3 main points that are instructive to us in educational ministry.

1. We are called to Christlikeness (vss. 1-5).
2. Jesus provided THE example (vss. 6-8).
3. The Father’s exultation of Jesus’ lifestyle provides further evidence of the importance of an incarnational approach (vss. 9-11).

 I am convinced that only by embracing incarnational approaches to ministry will we make the difference in the lives of people that God is calling us to make.

• Means getting uncomfortably close to people. Technology can help but it is not the answer.
• Involves knowing things we would rather not know.
• Requires walking alongside people through uncomfortable situations.

·       There are no guarantees that we will get the outcomes that we desire for them. Ultimately, learning, growth, and change are up to the person. However, if we do not embrace an incarnational approach, we can be sure that we will not make the difference that God is calling us to make.

©Roger McKenzie 2024