While there are an
incredibly diverse combination of personalities, gifting and experience, I
believe that at heart everyone is an
apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor or a teacher, and that when we
surrender our lives to Jesus’ rule, he gives us as gifts to his Church to serve
in particular roles within the life and witness of the community of faith.
And even taking into
account the diversity of personality, gifting and experience, these five
fundamental types will engage with waiting in different ways – and need to,
especially where they find waiting hardest, in order to be more fully formed.
Apostles are those
charged with the role of birthing the new thing that God is doing in a given
place, among a particular community. As
such, apostles are motivated by the urgency of the immanent coming of the
kingdom, just as Mary would have been very aware of the impending arrival of
Jesus, just as expectant parents feel the pressure to get everything ready and
the excitement of not-being-able-to-wait to see this new life that is coming
into the world. And yet, wait they must –
and realise that they simply won’t have everything ready, or at least, things
are unlikely to go to their neatly made plan.
The birth will take place in God’s timing, God in partnership with the
baby as much if not more so than with the mother. All those Old Wives’ Tales for bringing-on
labour are simply that: Old Wives’ Tales.
Premature birth brings with it major complications, and long-term
disadvantages.
No comments:
Post a Comment