Ministry: A Heavy Heart

 I have had so much on my heart.  

I have been reading and meditating on Romans 14 and I love how The Message puts it. 

Romans 14

The Message (MSG)

Cultivating Good Relationships

14 Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.

2-4 For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
5 Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
6-9 What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.
10-12 So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:

“As I live and breathe,” God says,
    “every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
    that I and only I am God.”

So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.

13-14 Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.
15-16 If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don’t eat, you’re no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don’t you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!
17-18 God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you’ll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.
19-21 So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault. You’re certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God’s work among you, are you? I said it before and I’ll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.
22-23 Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others. You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you’re out of line. If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong.

As Christians we are all on mission everyday...in our lives everywhere we go everyone we talk to. 

 If Jesus truly lives in us....He shines wherever we go.

  We don't get to decide when and where to let HIM out, there is no switch to turn on or off.

Too many people think of  only "missionaries" as on a mission.... and the truth is, it is  all CHRISTIANS that are "missionaries", on a mission. 

 EVERYDAY EVERYWHERE...ALL OF US.

  There is no mission field more important than another...

when we are at home = we are on mission

on vacation = mission

in a foreign country = mission

at school = mission

at work = mission

Our mission is to love God and to love people.

It is to go and make disciples.....and how we do THAT,

 is to LOVE GOD AND LOVE PEOPLE wherever we go...to the kitchen or to Uganda.  :)  

 The only way to love people is to tell them about Jesus.  

To love them is to let them know 

WHO LOVE IS!!

 For some of us....God has allowed to travel to carry out our mission...and this is an awesome privilege...but that doesn't mean when I'm gone, I'm more on mission than I am right here in my kitchen on all the other days of the year with the people God has put in my life right here at home. 

Also...just a side note...I think there are MANY MANY more that are invited to carry out their mission all over the world, but they don't "GO".  They are missing out....God WILL get His will accomplished.....and what a joy if you say

 "YES" 

and go outside of your familiar and comfortable zone and join in that work.

 I praise Him for letting me be a part of His work here and there.  

Sometimes people in ministry can get very caught up in their "ministry" and how they do it and what they do. 

Notice...the "they" in that sentence...people looking at themselves instead of God.

  Trusting in themselves and not trusting in God.

 It is part of the human condition I suppose.

  Comparison, opinions, and criticism.

  As usual God's Word has all the answers of how we are to deal with one another and the work that God has set before us.