NAMING THE COMPLAINTS
Have you heard a lot of complaints, lately? Whether you are a part of a presbytery staff or part of a congregational staff, my guess is that within ten minutes you could compose a list of the ten most common complaints you hear with respect to your ministry. Either get a scratch pad or open a new document on your computer and see what type of list you can compose in ten minutes. Don’t censure yourself. Just let the repeated memory of common complaints flow onto your sheet.
NAMING THE DEMONS
Rollo May in his book Love and Will helped me understand the nature of demons and exorcism. We all have daimons, which are the natural urges of our nature. I have a natural urge to feel competitive, be attracted to certain types of people, desire to gather things, want to feel secure, etc. Our natural urges become problems when they begin to dominate our personhood. You have heard someone say “I was just so angry I couldn’t help myself.” The problem wasn’t feeling anger. The problem was when anger became the dominant feature. You are possessed by the demon.
In the Scriptures, Jesus named the demon as part of exorcising it. In my own life, if I can name that I am angry, envious, lustful, fearful, etc., I am still in control and can choose how I want to respond to that natural urge. So now look at your list of common complaints and name how each item on that list makes you feel. Already you have taken the first step in not allowing people’s complaints to dominate your decisions about your ministry.
HAVE SOME THEOLOGICAL FUN
When you can learn to play with the things that bother you, you increase your control over them. Choose a trusted friend, ask him or her to take ten minutes to engage in the same exercise of making a list of the most common complaints. At least for this first time, choose a friend that is employed by the church so that the field of your complaints is somewhat similar. Then invite that friend to go to lunch with you.
Share your lists with each other. Then each of you take the other person’s list and engage in a little creative theological thinking. As quickly as possible–so that you don’t overthink this–identify a theological doctrine–a faith idea–that is triggered by each of the other person’s issues. For example, people complain that we talk too much about money in the church. That suggests that we explore the area of stewardship. People suggest that the church is filled with hypocrites, which suggests we explore whether we are saved by grace or works, or what it means to hold this treasure in earthen vessels.
SCATTERING THE SEEDS
What you are discovering is that the field of complaints provides some fertile ground for spiritual growth. You have moved from demon possession–allowing people’s complaints to dominate your approach to ministry–to growth in discipleship. I will develop this further in the next blog.
