Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Today's psalm begins, "For God alone my soul waits in silence." And the gospel reading opens with Jesus saying, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" Focused on God alone with no worries; now that sounds like bliss.

One of the prominent schools of thought in church leadership encourages pastors to practice something called "non-anxious presence." This means that you are to be fully present or engaged in the issues that your congregation or committee or board is dealing with, but you are not supposed to let the anxieties surrounding these issues affect how you respond. In theory it is wonderful, but in practice it can be terribly difficult. I can be non-anxious fairly easily if I remain detached and unengaged. But when I begin to give myself fully to the situation, I often have a hard time keeping those anxieties at bay.

I may have gotten a tiny bit better at non-anxious presence after years of trying, but for me, this is less a proficiency issue and more a faith one. Too often I am tempted to think that "success" or "failure" as a church leader is primarily about my competency. But if it's all about my competency, or lack thereof, then what room do I allow for the Spirit to move in the congregation? If it's all about my proficiency, what is faith about?

In a success and results oriented culture, pastors, just like many others, can view their self worth as a matter or what they have accomplished rather than how faithful they are. We are called to live out our faith, and so what we do matters. But we are also called to trust in God's providence. Integrating and balancing faith and human effort may just be one of the most difficult practices of Christian living.

Click here to learn more about the Daily Lectionary.