Sacramental Living

Well, it’s official … Heather and I are having a girl as child number 2.  Though my sis already announced it to the world, I thought I should make it known to.

Being Eliot’s Dad hasn’t phased me.  I can handle a boy.  I understand boys.  I was one (still am at heart).

But a girl is a whole different bag.  I’m excited … but already a little scared (oh God, please help me through those teenage years).

Having served previously as a youth pastor, I know that girls change more often in more ways imaginable between 12 and 17 years of age.

Friends become enemies who become friends who become enemies, etc.

“I like this … No I don’t like that anymore … Ooh why would you think I like that? … What are you an idiot!!! Of course I like that!”

It’s going to be a fun experience.  Still praying for Mommy and the little one due to enter the world in September.

SO TELL ME:
Are you a daddy to a girl?  Can you help a brother out?

——-

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

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In part 1 of this post, I discussed this question from the perspective of religion.

Now, let’s look at it from the world’s perspective. By world, I mean those not actively engaged with the system of the Christian religion.

A person in this context expects the minister to be optimistic, unobtrusive, and a sanctioner of faith in a progressive world.

This person will also be underwhelmed with me as a minister. However, I will come closer to meeting these types of expectations than I will the expectations of the religious person.

In Part 3, I’ll spell out my understanding of what is a minister to be. For now, I’ll say that I do see a progressive world … but not a world that faith must ask permission to enter. Instead, the world is defined by faith as expressed through the orthodox creeds.

The “religious” person’s expectations of the minister will reject the death required in God’s search for humanity. The person of the “world” will reject the life offered in God’s search for humanity.

Death must happen when we realize all our false notions of reality in the light of God’s great love for us. Life beyond our wildest imaginations can be embraced when we allow ourselves to be defined by our Creator.

SO TELL ME:
Is it easier for you to suffer death or embrace life?

SO TELL ME SOMETHING ELSE:
Has your idea of what a minister should be changed at all?

——-

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Tags: religion, perspective, Christian, minister, faith, progressive, orthodox, creeds, humanity

So what is a minister supposed to be and/or do?

A good question for me to wrestle with (being a vocational pastor and what not).

First, let’s look at this question from the perspective of “religion.” Now by religion (specifically the Christian religion) I mean the system of organized doctrine and practices instituted by human initiatives and based on an underlying story of God’s initiatives. And an individual who looks at the world through the eyes of religion tends to separate the world into two parts: sacred and secular.

This is not the lens through which I see the world.

Instead, my worldview is filtered through the person of the Triune God. This means I’m adverse to the definition of “What Is a Minister?” that follows.

The religious person expects to see the minister as profoundly serious and deliberate in his/her approach to life. The minister shoud be dignified in his/her denouncement of the world. The minister should attend to the needs and wants of the religious under his/her care and separate oneself from the world.

The religious person will be decidedly disappointed with me as a minister.

Seeing the world through the lens of the Triune God means I don’t see a separation between sacred and secular. All is of God. All is good. All space and time is sacred space and time. “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever!” (Romans 11:36). I confess being influenced by Aquinas and his theology of glory.

Consequently, the world is my parish.

Part 2 will answer this question from the perspective of “the world.”

SO TELL ME:
What is a minister to you?

Tags: minister, pastor, Christian, religion, doctrine, practices, story, sacred, secular, Triune, God, sacred space, Aquinas