On Brakes and Ministry

You can watch a video of what I am referring to here: http://youtu.be/lt8wBfqc32A

Part 1

Recently, a good friend named Aaron, asked me to help him with his brakes on his car. It is a simple job, and it is something I've done before on other cars. We were to change the brake pads on both front calipers and bleed the brake lines while we were at it. All together, the job should have taken us two hours at the most. This day, however, was very much like Homer's Odyssey or Harold and Kumar goes to White Castle – anything that could go wrong, went wrong. But in the end, we were able to accomplish everything that we set out to do, and to call the moment when we sat in the car, accelerated, then stopped smoothly without fault, satisfying, is an understatement. We started around 9:30. We finished around 5:30.

It was a memorable day. Both of us had somewhat clear schedules, there was the sense of adventure, and there is something bonding about guys working together to fix something, especially a car. I think God wired men to be this way – to be a problem solver. Thinking back upon the dating relationships that I've been in, wearing the “problem solver hat” usually made for interesting interactions. I've come to the conclusion that knowing when to wear the “problem solver hat” is really important. Is she looking for an answer to her situation? Or is she just looking to be understood on a deeper level? Usually it is the latter. My default is to do the first. God has a great sense of humor.

Moreover, on the grandest scheme, God has asked his creation to wear the “problem solver hat”. Just like how that day was a powerful bonding experience with Aaron, participating in the Great Commission follows in the same suit. Don't get me wrong, quite times and devotionals are critical, but at least from what I've experienced, nothing connects me closer to God and nothing has brought me greater joy than participating in ministry.

The problem is sin. The answer is the gospel. I get to participate with God on the grandest adventure, to play a role in fixing what is broken.

Part 2

Another observation that I made that day was an interesting dynamic in problem solving. In our situation, the front left caliper's piston was extended out too far so that we couldn't get in back on the disk. This problem set us back a couple hours. What was most interesting was the way in which Aaron and myself approached the problem, for the longest time we thought of it as a unilateral issue – that there is one thing wrong. This way of thinking led us down many dead ends, and certainly some frustrations too. In analogy we saw the problem with the brakes like this:

6 + x = 10

We would solve for x over and over again, and double and triple check out work. We would swear we were right (that we were not putting enough force on the piston to overcome the fluid in the brake lines), but the piston would not recede to the position we needed it to be at. Hours would pass, and through intellectual flexibility we came to the conclusion that we had the correct solution – but we were solving the wrong problem. In our situation, the solution involved two variables, so our situation was more like this:

6 + x + 2y = 10

In our brake situation, the solution was our piston was misaligned and we were not putting enough force on it. We tried those solutions independently, but it required both for us to get the desired results. In the end it took our intellectual flexibility to see the possibility that the solution might incorporate more than one dynamic. From my observations, ministry behaves in the same way. We institute one thing, such as weekly prayer meetings, and expect results. In our intellectual flexibility we need to properly assess the situation and see that loving well is complex, dynamic, and has several levels.

Part 3

Another dynamic found in our time working on the car was our dynamic determination. Dynamic determination, in my own words, is simply the capacity to continue and not give up in light of difficulty, set backs, and/or problems. As you can imagine, both dynamic determination and intellectual flexibility are woven together in most situations and usually, both are required for problem solving. Just our dynamic determination to keep on pushing on the brake piston alone was not enough to solve our issue – and even led to a level of frustration. We needed to keep on pushing (dynamic determination) and realign the piston (intellectual flexibility). I wonder how many churches and ministries have given up and stuck with the status quo because of the lack of integrating both determination and flexibility. Metaphorically speaking, they push and don't realign, or realign and don't push, and then over time they give up on both realigning and pushing altogether and look for another answer (which actually isn't the answer at all).

Our situation with the brake involved lots of dynamic determination. For hours we pressed and pressed on the piston, hoping that it would go back into the caliper. Our determination, however, was actually dictated by the situation. Aaron's car was at my house. Without our problem solved, the car is not drivable (no brakes!). Therefore, Aaron is stranded here. To be honest, I was scared for a good moment of time. What happens if we can't fix this? How would Aaron explain this to his parents? What happens if we need to just buy an expensive new part? Our backs were against the wall. There was no other option: we need to fix the brake and we can't stop working until it is done.

I believe that this attitude and situation carries over to our participation in ministry. There is no other option: we need to love and we can't stop loving until the Great Commission is done or till were dead. I know that sounds harsh, but really, what else is there to do or endeavor in our lives? Money, fame, comfort – in light of death is meaningless. I guess where I'm going is this: we can gain a source of motivation by just assessing our situation, yes, your calling is difficult, but what else is there to do outside of your calling?

Conclusion

Participating in the Great Commission is a privilege, honor, and a great source of joy as it bonds us to our true source of joy, God, in a special way. We don't earn special favor in our participation, for we are saved by grace, but many are missing out on joy, and that is unfortunate. Loving people well is a complex and multilateral. What works for one situation may not work for the next, thus we need to be intellectually flexible. To be able to assess the situation fully and to be constantly asking God for wisdom in every step of ministry. Dynamic Determination is woven together with intellectual flexibility and both are to be stewarded in unison. Ministry can be difficult at times, but quitting is not an option, for there is nothing else worthy of my time.