Mount Everest...

I have been intriqued about Mount Everest ever since that book by Jon Krakauer - "Into Thin Air" came out. It gave the account of a Mount Everest expedition that ended in tradgedy, eight people lost their lives that day but some others exampled courage and stamina to make it through the night on the deadliest mountain in the world.
I started thinking about this in relation to ministry. I believe whether you are pioneering or planting a church, pastoring an established church or reviving a church that has been dead or "mostly dead" (Princess Bride concept :-P) it is like climbing a mountain.

The expedition starts with preperation, you get everything together, even stuff that you might not really need but may need on occasion because once you start the journey it is really hard to go back and repack. You loose all your momentum and you waste the time you spent on your initial asscent. Prepare, Prepare, and Prepare some more. You won't probably get it all, but if you prepare correctly you will get 99% of it ready. But many poeple don't prepare at all, they just step in by faith and hope that it will work out. "I am leaving it in GOD'S hands" I have heard too many times. Can I say this, if GOD wanted to do it, he does not really need you. He works through us, and through our preperation we prepare ourselves to be ready to move at his command in any way that he wants. Consider this, you a driving home from work, how many different ways can you go to get home? I am not sure, but I think I can get home about 15 different ways. I don't use them all but I know all of them and they are an option if I need them. If I only know one way, and a tree falls over the road, I am stuck there till someone comes along and moves the tree. Preperation is vital.

The expedition then begins the climb up the mountain. This takes Perspiration. Yep, good old sweat. Too many people in ministry today don't want to work. Yes I went there. They want a 9-5 job Tuesday through Friday, yes ministers get to work a four day work week because Sunday is a work day! Yeah it is tough, sit through a service (if you aren't preaching) go eat lunch with friends for two hours and have the church pay for it, go home and take a nap in the afternoon and then go back to church for the evening service and then go to your ice cream parlor of choice and again put it on the expense account and then take Monday off since you worked so hard on Sunday. Have you ever thought what the people in your church that work a real work week, Monday through Friday, think about your schedule? No wonder everyone thinks ministers have it made. So get out there and start working. Get your manicured hands dirty, put the suit away and get out the Levis, Wranglers, and Rustlers (nice product placements huh? I have two new pairs from each company coming!! not really) and start perspiring. I will say it again, if GOD wanted to do it, he doesn't need us, but because he wants to work THROUGH us we have to start working for him. Climbing a mountain is not easy! You have to carry all this gear that you might or might not need, the air is getting thinner so it is hard to breathe, it is really cold so you are dressed like a snowman with layers and layers of clothes. And the pathway is snowy and icey and one mistep you can fall to your death. Yep, mountain climbing is like doing ministry!! Maybe that is why many won't journey outside the church office because of the slippery slopes.

The last part of being able to climb the mountain is perserverance. That is pushing on past all the obstacles and being tough enough to suceed. Many people are not tough enough anymore. I remember reading of preachers going to towns, preaching the gospel and then getting tarred and feathered by the town folks only to go onto the next town to do it all over again. I was like What? These dudes were C r A z Y!! No, they weren't crazy but they were tough and had a job to do. They did not care what people thought about them, they did not care how much they put in the offereing and wether they could correct them or not. They did not care if anyone came to their meetings. They just knew this is what GOD told them to do and they were going to do it till he told them to quit. The church today is soft. There I said it, we have fostered this culture of sitting around in a circle holding hands singing "KumByAh my Lord, KumByAh" while the world around us is calling out for a savior. We have to be people who are willing to push through, to cowboy up, to rock and roll, to "have fun storming the castle" (another Princess Bride mention, I am on a roll!) if we are to see the moutaintop.

So prepare, perspire and persevere in all that you do, and I believe you will be standing on the summit before long.
Pastor Pat