Production

Currently Listening to: Not Sure by Fiction Family

"In a variety of ways we are made to believe that we are what we produce." -Nouwen

"What we need are ministers who know the true heart of God and are driven not by a hungry need to be significant in the world but by a desperate love for Jesus." -Nouwen

"We act as if visibility and notoriety were the main criteria of the value of what we are doing." -Nouwen

Last week I turned in my final paper. As I wrapped up a 2 year journey through the world of education, I found a class on Nouwen to be a wonderful way to wrap up my time attempting to get more smarter.

I realized that Nouwen was a man before his time more than I had ever realized. There is so much guiding leaders today that he was tapped into a long time ago. There is also a great deal of thought guiding service and missiology today that can find solid roots in Nouwen's thinking. Since I've not blogged for a bit I thought I would share some of my favorite thoughts from his writings.

The three at the beginning of this post bring up that ongoing battle I think most of us wrestle with as we seek to find the balance between taking pride in what we do and not finding our self-worth and value solely in our occupation whether it be ministry or not. Either way, we are not valuable simply because of that. In fact, I wrestle with just how much value that gives me even in God's eyes. The more I think about it, even if I am advancing the kingdom, for my value in His eyes to be on a sliding scale depending on my performance seems wrong. My obedience and submission are big issues no doubt but I think the externals get overrated too often.

As for a few more quotes, this one brings to mind people I have known. Try it on for size:

"Much Christian leadership is exercised by people who do not know how to develop healthy, intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead. Many Christian empire-builders have been people unable to give and receive love." -Nouwen

I think to wrap all of this rambling up, I will share a quote from my prof. In it I found profound truth and a warning for all of us. Hopefully something shared from these men "wrecks" your day.

"In summary, even though many would consider relevance, popularity and power as key ingredients of an effective ministry, they are, in reality, "not vocations but temptations" in the ministry." -Hernandez

So here's to a day remembering why we are loved, what about us is actually "valuable" and to caring more about our obedience than our production.