Why do we serve? A call to pray for people in ministry.

I frequently encounter people who struggle to understand why persons would give their lives in service of others...  I know, among my colleagues, some of the most gifted, hard working, and creative persons I have ever met.  Just about each one of them could make a great deal of money and be successful in just about any field - yet they have chosen a life of service and sacrifice.  Why would one do it?

Well, the one certain answer is that they feel called by God to share whatever gifts they have for the good of all of God's children.  What I think we often fail to remember is that God sees all of creation as a part of God's economy (oikos household nomos regulation or provision).  God can never be pleased when one child is fat and another is starving, neither could God our parent be pleased when one child abuses another, oppresses another, or where there is amenity and strife between God's children.  

And so... people give their lives in service of God's love, and their love, for others.  I pray for myself and my colleagues frequently - this is not an easy path, it takes great discipline and requires a lot of sacrifice.  Many of ministers and missionaries are willing to take the sacrifice of poverty and lack of provision upon themselves, yet when your children suffer because of your ideals and choices, it becomes quite a different story altogether!  I remember an adult student crying in my office one day because his daughter was to go to her Matric farewell, yet he could not even afford to pay the fee for the dance, let alone buy her a new dress and the shoes she longed for.  My heart was broken.  I went home to Megan and asked her if we could take the money out of our bond to give to them as a gift.

I thought of that event when I read the quote below...

The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. - Matthew 23:11-12

The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life. - Jane Addams

Members of Christian congregations, may I please encourage you to love, support and care for your ministerial families?  Please pray for them, for their needs, and for their hearts and intentions to remain pure and servant-like in this great calling.