A few decades ago ministry was fairly cut-and-dried. Our family moved a few times when I was growing up, and everywhere we moved we attended a Baptist church very similar to the one we left. The Sunday school material was the same, many of them used the same hymnbooks, the order of the service was nearly identical, most of the people dressed alike and thought alike. People knew what to expect from their minister. Other than the architecture of the church most of them were nearly duplicates of the previous churches we attended. That is not the case today!
Many people are not concerned with the name on the church they begin attending when they move. In fact, they may attend more than one church for the various programs and ministries they offer. Look out into many congregations and you're apt to see people from various walks of life and with many different life experiences. Some will hold to some very strong opinions that are markedly different from those traditionally held by members of your congregation. It's likely that some have come from different denominational backgrounds with traditions and polities that are different from yours. All of these things mean that ministry is much messier today than it was in earlier times.
A Baptist pastor called me a few years ago asking my opinion on an issue that existed in his church. A couple from a non-Baptist background had been attending services there and had become quite involved in the life of the church. They wanted to become members of the church, but the church required baptism by immersion to become a member. Both had been sprinkled according to their former church's teaching, and because their conversion and baptism had been so meaningful to them, they did not want to be re-baptized. Because the church limited the number of things non-members could do, they were unable to use many of their gifts in the church. The pastor was sure the church would lose this couple soon if the problem wasn't resolved.
In a book I recently read a pastor wrote about a trans person who began attending the church. He wanted to know this person better and so he invited the individual home for dinner. The person replied he would be bringing his wife. At dinner they discussed how they had been married for years and had raised their children when he began to suffer from gender dysphoria. It was decided that he would make the transition to female, but because they were Christians who did not believe in divorce and very much in love with one another they had remained married.
When I was still serving in regional ministry a church began seeking a new pastor. When I met with the search team they said the church needed a pastor who could develop a strong youth group in the church. A few months later they called an individual to serve as their pastor. Several months later I was eating lunch in the community when a member of that former search team approached my table. I asked how the pastor was doing, and specifically if he was able to build a youth group in that church. She said he had been very successful in growing a youth group, but now the older members complained that he spent all his time with the youth, and because he was ignoring them they had quit supporting the church financially.
These are just three examples of how challenging ministry has become in the 21st century. Entire books could be written with stories like these. Unfortunately, this not apt to change soon, if ever. We are called to meet people where they are, and this is where many of them are today. Ministry is messy today because people's lives are messy. Those of us in ministry need to pray for wisdom and courage as we continue to serve. We also need to encourage people that no one's life is too messy for God to change. Perhaps it is in the messiness of our time that we will find the greatest receptivity to God's message of grace.
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