Just GO

A wise man once told me that 2/3 of God's name is GO. Another wise man then told me "Well, in English it is." Anyway, the phrase has always stuck with me but mostly in terms of doing overseas mission work in the 10/40 and the many "unreached people groups" that reside there. Now I look at this phrase as a means for doing life in general.

I recently went to a retreat with APU's School of Practical Theology. It was for all the Christian Ministry and Youth Ministry majors as well as alumni and faculty. It was a great chance to recharge my ministry battery by being able to fellowship with both the younger and older generations of ministry professionals. During the two day retreat I had multiple opportunities to share my story about where God has brought me these past few months with my passion for ministry and my heart for shaping culture, media and Hollywood especially. The typical response I got was "Wow, that's so cool that you are doing that!" I know that Hollywood is cool, tv is great, and movies are awesome but is it really that cool what I'm doing?

I believe what I am doing should be the standard (meaning lowest possible mark) for ministry professionals. If you want to do ministry you better damn well have a passion for it because, as one of the professors on the retreat stated, "ministry is the front lines." All I am doing is blending my calling with my passions, interests, and skills. I feel like that is basic. Those are the foundational ingredients for creating an effective ministry. I don't have outlines, lesson plans, programs, or any staff yet but I am doing ministry and I am doing it somewhere that is in dire need of divine intervention; of salvation and healing. Sadly, I feel so drawn to Hollywood because I don't see any other Christians flocking there as they should, but that's another issue I'm sure I'll address another day.

Why don't we follow our passions? Usually because they lead down a road with too many unknowns, or at least that's what I have found. I have no idea where I will be in a week and I wouldn't have it any other way. Only God knows, He's the only one who needs to know.

We get so used to planning our lives and if something goes wrong in our plans it becomes a problem instead of a blessing because we don't see it as God course-correcting for us but instead the world interferring with what we projected onto God as "His Plan" for our lives. What all this critique adds up to is that I see far too many people hindering their own futures because they are too afraid to mix their passions with their careers because it seems less "practical" and is much harder to discern. Most importantly, I see ministry professionals compromising their ministries because they do not believe God could call them outside of traditional Church roles or preexisting non-profit organizations. We are so afraid to invent or venture outside the norms of custom/culture and create something as unique as ourselves. There are a myriad of verses I could use to support these arguments but I'll just use one. I'll just use the one that has inspired me the most.

Proverbs 16:9 "In their hearts humans plan their course,
   but the LORD establishes their steps."

How comforting is that?! We can, we are allowed to, we get to plan a course for ourselves. A course that can be as complex and incomparable as our very own fingerprints. Yet, God is there at every "step" to ensure that His will be done and all things work together for His glory to be reflected upon the entire earth. All we have to do is go. Just go. Pick a path, any path. We start constructing the course of our destiny and then get to be the humble witnesses of God's glorious guidance in our lives as we watch the changes, difficulties and growth that God catalyzes in our lives. That is, if we ever get off the starting line.

This weekend I heard too many of the same stories from future ministers who were paralyzed by fear. I know we plan everything years in advance while we are in school until we are 21 or older, but then real life starts and all that planning goes out the window. Still, I wish we would have built up more confidence in the time we spent inside the world of texts and tests. The one draw back about being in school for so long is that we never fully learn to trust God with the future, unless we are privy to some tougher lessons that take place outside the classroom.

The point of school becomes learning how to control your own future by being prepared, educated and entirely self-sustaining. It seems extremely obvious, to me at least, that ministry is never about having all the answers nor being completely prepared. The only thing you can be prepared for is that you are most likely unprepared to handle the things God will bring your way initially. That is why we have to learn to lean on God and just be willing to walk into the darkness in the direction that seems most appropriate to us at the time. That is why I don't believe what I am doing is special, cool, etc. It should be the standard, and the lowest possible one at that. God expects no less from us than complete obedience and trust. He also expects that we utilize our God-given talents and seek out our innate passions in order to lead us into the most effective ministries possible.

Time to GO? I think so.