Despite all of the health horrors this means for my skin, the risk of getting sunburnt was an understandable one as I craved any kind of time outdoors. I'm surely going to regret it as the low level pain sets in, but while I was enjoying warmth and brightness it seemed like a worthy risk.
Sacrificing my health for a bit of sunshine was probably pretty stupid. But a lot of my life centers on very precarious things.
During church on Sunday, one of the congregants at the worship service I was attending offered up prayer for the church budget balancing for the first quarter of the year. The pastor reminded the congregation that they were not alone in these kinds of financial struggles. American churches are fairly uniformly experiencing an ebb in church numbers. Weekly attendance and dollar figures sink, leaving practical concerns like the salary of a pastor in scarily ambiguous places.
So why risk it? Why go into a declining industry?
Part of me knows that when you have something so great and powerful, you've got to risk getting burnt. Christianity is about spectacular sacrifice. I would rather see the American church go out with a fight, to step out and not be afraid of getting burnt, instead of entering a lukewarm period of apathy.
Faith is about burning brightly when it doesn't make sense.
It's supposed to be sunny and 80 degrees tomorrow. If I go outside, I'll put on sunscreen. But I'm still going to go to my seminary classes and remain involved in this ridiculously nonsensical thing called church because I'm not afraid of a little risk. I believe people still need to hear an abrasive message of justice. I think wanting to be a pastor is absurd. But a little bit of boldness might not be such a bad idea.
And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with God's gifts, but bold and loving and sensible. (2 Timothy 1:7, The Message)
Be safe.....
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