“I’m a minister too!”

I was a little taken back and delighted at the same time that the lady across from me at the local Starbucks wanted to strike up a conversation. I love to talk to people, especially about my life calling: ministry.

She was a very nice lady, probably in her late 50’s or early 60’s. She told me that she was a “minister at large” and mentioned a “new-agey” sort of faith she subscribed to. I shared with her that my passion was helping people connect with Jesus Christ and grow in their relationship with Him.

Her brief description of her “ministry” told me that she was sort of an all-faiths, all beliefs will get you there kind of minister. While I briefly shared that I believed Jesus Christ was THE Way, THE Truth, and THE life. It was not at all confrontational; it was gracious and educational on both sides of the conversation. Both of us knew in that brief moment we were not changing anyone’s world view.

The conversation ended somewhat abruptly because I received the call I had been waiting for. I gave her a churchforfamily invite card and she smiled and waved good-bye.

After my phone call I began to think about that nice lady again. Her first words were “I am a minister too!”

I wonder how many of us think of ourselves as “ministers too!”? If someone asked, would we say that we are ministers, servants?

I assume that you are a lot like me in that we most often focus on ourselves. That’s conceited. That’s self-centered. (That, by the way, had been the topic of conversation at the men’s gathering at Starbucks right before the nice lady and I began our chat. Galatians 6:26, “Let us not become conceited...”)

I’m not sure that nice lady would have known where to point me if I had asked her – all directions seemed to be OK so long as you were “good” within yourself. We on the other hand have God’s WORD to point people toward. But there is one thing I took away from that conversation:

I want to be a minister too! I want to serve everyone God places within my world. I want to minister them...serve them to Jesus.

I am an emergent blogger (and that is my real "myspace").

My son, Benji, and I have been having an ongoing conversation about the meaning of emergent and the "emergent church" movement. The more I read and listen, the more I am convinced that emergent church and emergent theology really has more to do with relevance than emerging.

Every generation, every family has dealt with, not so much issues of change, as issue of translation and interpretation. The meanings of the base thoughts do not change, but the language often does. And what’s just as important is that how people interpret the translation can effect the base thoughts most of all.

As a father of one young adult and three up-and-coming (emergent) teenagers, I am called upon to translate my values and interpret my heritage, my faith and my values into meaningful, life changing concepts that I can pass on to my heirs.

As a Pastor of a small, growing church I am called upon to translate and interpret the timeless truth of God’s Word into everyday application. With God’s help that translation and interpretation is life-changing.

So, I am an emergent blogger. And to anyone who is long suffering enough to read this space, my goal is to be relevant. We’ll see if it works!