The Long Run 9.9.2022

            Who can go the distance,

                        We’ll find out, in the Long Run             

Eagles

    Queen Elizabeth 2 died today. I’m not one of her subjects so it really is not my direct concern but there are a few lessons we can learn from her long reign which might inform ministry.

    She saw most of the twentieth century and reigned most of the first quarter of the twenty-first. She was beloved beyond the scope of her reign. She was, perhaps, the last remaining vestige of the “greatest generation.” She faced problems, controversies, and wars, as well as the final desolation of the British Empire. She may have been bred and born to it but that is not enough in a complex, rapidly changing world. 

    Much of the last paragraph describes the evolution of ministry, particularly in the last quarter-century. Many of us find ourselves ministering in a world vastly different from what we knew when we began our ministry education in the 1980s. There are lessons to be learned from her that inform a career in ministry teaching us what it takes to serve in the long run. This will not be an exhaustive list, but a few things jump to mind. 

Toughness

    She was a tough old bird. Those words are not elegant, but they are accurate. She never changed her public face despite all the issues she confronted. Some were personal (Charles and Dianna) others more public (Brexit, the Falklands war). She endured every circumstance without losing focus on who she was. It may be that many did not like her, but she was respected. Though some of her descendants were thought to be rich and entitled she never seemed to be tarred with that brush. 

    Toughness is a state of mind which needs to be cultivated in ministry. Some will not like you. Others will like you but not appreciate the way you do your specific duties. Others are just chronic complainers who for some reason decide to make you miserable. You cannot control them; you can control your response. Toughness allows us to absorb the blows and remain standing. 

    Jesus was tough without being combative or reactive. He was criticized and maintained His purpose. He knew hardship but it did not harden Him. Tough people can be tender-hearted and, in that juxtaposition, lies a strength that produces long ministry.

Resilience

    Toughness enables a person to stand when attacked. Resilience is the attitude that creates something beautiful from the experience. Her difficulties seemed to energize the Queen when the criticisms could have unmade her. She did not remain tied to outdated concepts of monarchy which were under attack, rather she redefined her role and changed. 

    Every criticism you receive in ministry should teach you a lesson. Resilience in ministry means that you grow stronger through the difficulties. Resilience should motivate us to remove the dross through the process of refinement.

Flexibility

    The monarchy Elizabeth left was not the one she inherited. She had her Corgis and horses and Balmoral, but she evolved through her long reign, emerging as a statesman emeritus for the Western world. 

    Economically and socially England and Great Britain were evolving in the same ways that the entire world evolved through the 20th century. When she began the British Empire was global. Globalism had shrunk the world when she died and eroded the distance between cultures. She changed while remaining the same and did not seem to become the final example of outdated cultural concepts.

    Flexibility is an ability to learn and adapt to change without losing sight of who and what you are. Ministry changes. Life changes. We represent an eternal Gospel and a risen savior. There are some clear boundaries that we should never give up and some central issues for which we should fight. Flexibility is what allows us to draw boundaries Biblically rather than personally. Flexibility enables us to see the forest for the trees and to grasp how important it is to carefully choose the hills we will die on.

Service

    The Queen’s service was different than ours. This is true of each of us. My ministry will look different than yours. Yet each of us should minister in such a way that people see Jesus through us as the source of all that we do and the reason we do it. 

    Some will be missionaries. Others will be rural preachers. Still, others will serve on large staffs at megachurches. Each of these is different. Each is the same. 

        “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than                 yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3 ESV)

 

    We serve Christ best by serving others. We serve others best by showing them, Christ. That may seem overly simple but that’s pretty much the ball game. 

Who Will Go the Distance?

        “Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and          gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get             Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:9–11 ESV)

 

    Luke was with Paul at the end. Paul longed for Mark’s company. He trusted Timothy. He mourned lost colleagues and deserters. He kept the faith. He was not as old as Queen Elizabeth. Though imprisoned he still taught, preached, mentored, and led. Not a monarch but a tough, resiliently flexible, servant. Lads, that is not a bad goal.