Thursday, March 22, 2007

What is Secular Ministry?

Section One of this series dealt with what I miss now that I am doing "secular" ministry after thirty years as a parish pastor. Section Two was about what I don't miss.
Links to earlier sections:
Introduction
1. What I Miss: Part 1, part 2, part 3
2. What I Don't Miss: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Interlude
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What then is this thing I keep talking about that is “secular ministry?”

I could be cutesy and say something like, “Secular ministry is doing ministry the same way Jesus did it, outside the religious institution.”

That IS part of the definition, of course, but it’s more than that.

To put this all as simply as I can-
secular ministry is doing God’s work of living the Good News among those who may not be in or involved in the church- and doing it with no connection to the work and ministry of the church. It is being in times and places where the Gospel may not be spoken or might be challenged if it was.

I have always been an articulate person, who, even though shy, has been able to stand before a crowd and speak. For that reason I was always chosen to give the “message” whenever our youth fellowship did worship. After every time someone would invariably come up to me and say something to the effect that I belong in the ministry.

I would smile, say thank you, and add, "but I could have a greater witness not being a minister." Why should that be? I felt that people were less real when the pastor was around. Therefore a non-clergy could be places and have openings that a clergy could never have.

In that are the roots for what I am today calling “secular ministry.” You are able to impact people who would never be inside the church or even be available for discussions on spiritual matters.

One of the underlying groundings of this is that people are in need of hope, promise, grace, and love – unconditional acceptance – where they are, not where we want them to be or think they should be. It’s kind of like doing what God has already done for us. While we were still sinners, Paul reminds us, Jesus came. He didn’t wait until we were perfect or even repentant. If he had waited for that, well, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

We live in a secular world. Perhaps more to the point, we live in a world that often ignores or struggles against the sacred even though it is right there in front of us. It is a world dominated by non-spiritual values such as war, consumerism, fear, wealth, poverty, crime, addiction. You all know the list. Yet at the same time, the non-spiritual values are in fact spiritually driven. They often seek to fill the holes left by spiritual desires and drives for meaning, hope, and purpose.

In other words this is a world that is just like the world has always been. Jesus promised that the time of the coming of the Son of Man would be like the days of Noah. People will be eating, drinking, marrying. Normal. The world Jesus walked in was just like the world we walk in.

It’s also the world we all work in whether we are in the church or not. These things are the roots of what I have talked about not missing about the church. We just try to hide it better or mask it or deny it inside the organization.

Anyway, let’s talk about ministry. In our Western, Christian view, this is what the clergy do. We have developed a whole language that makes that clear because, alongside ministry (no adjective attached) we have “lay” ministry as if one (the one without the adjective) is more essential to the church than the other. The dichotomy goes back to the pedestal problem, but reveals the deep division that often exists between clergy and members.

From this problematic point of view the ministry is what is done most of the time by professionals inside the church for the benefit of the church. Once in a while we may talk about some outside ministry but most of the time ministry is what happens within the doors; things that people have to come to get so they can be ministered to.

One of the questions I have often batted around in conversations with church people (non-clergy-types) was, “Do you see what you do in your daily work life as ‘ministry’?” More often than not I get a quick “No” even from people who work in the service sector where they are helping people. “Of course not,” is often the unspoken reply. “I don’t work in the church.”

Every now and then someone will surprise me. “Sure,” one person said. “No matter what I’m doing I’m doing it for God and helping others hopefully see God through me.” This person worked in industry.

So let’s look at the heart of the word, not its current usage. Here’s its etymology from Dictionary.com and the Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper:
1297, "one who acts upon the authority of another," from O.Fr. ministre "servant," from L. minister (gen. ministri) "servant, priest's assistant" (in M.L. "priest"), from minus, minor "less," hence "subordinate," + comp. suffix *-teros.
Meaning "priest" is attested in Eng. from c.1315.
The verb is from c.1300, originally "to serve (food or drink)."
Servant. Right from the words of Jesus about what his followers are supposed to be. We have no problem thinking of that when the pastor calls him/herself a “servant.” That’s what they’re getting paid to do. But we have a difficult time when we move outside the church. I had people tell me I would always be a pastor or minister because that’s my personality. I would challenge back and say, “But you’re a minister, too.” To which they would often respond. “No, that’s not the same thing.” Only the ordained do “real” ministry.

Others have asked, “Why did you leave the ministry?” I always respond, “I didn’t. I just changed the location.”

Which should be every Christian’s response.

More next week as we continue to look at secular ministry- life in the world- and what we can learn and experience.

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