I’m a Mechanic
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself in three and a half years of full time ministry it’s this: i’m not a theologian or a philosopher. I’m a mechanic.
Allow me to explain.
I really enjoy reading different kinds of books. Right now I’ve been reading some different books for a leadership coaching network I’m in. Some of the books seem quite practical. But some of the other books, and these are the ones I’m not really enjoying, are extremely philosophical and theological. It’s as if I can feel my eyes beginning to glaze over. It’s not that I don’t like to be challenged intellectually or anything, it’s just that if I can’t find a direct anchor point in something that’s practical and that I can apply, I lose focus in it and stop caring.
Here’s an example from the book “Surrender to Love.”
This is from one of the last chapters called “Becoming Love,” and a section called “Love and the Cross.”
“When I am confronted with my frequent failures in love, my first instinct has always been to try harder. I recognize the poverty of my love. I recall how love is the single most important criterion of my spiritual transformation. I feel regret and discouragement. I pray for help in becoming more loving. I try harder and nothing changes…The reason nothing changes is that the focus is still on me–my failures, my remorse, my discouragement, my effort. Love requires leaving all this behind–all my self-preoccupation and all my willful striving. Love cannot simply be a result of discipline and resolve. It must flow from the heart.”
Ok, here goes. This is not going to sound very pastoral-like…but reading stuff like that makes me want to vomit. I’m sorry. It just seems like meaningless psychological babble. It’s not even grounded in a clear Scripture or even good theology.
I’m always asking myself as I read something, “so what?” I want to be able to find some application for it. I want to see how and why things fit together. And if possible, I wouldn’t mind tweaking it so it works better.
So please don’t give me this weird abstract stuff. It doesn’t do anything good for me but annoy me and long to demand that psychologists quit dabbling in theology. It rarely works well.
I’m a mechanic. I prefer to dabble with things I can hold and feel.
On which end of the spectrum do you find yourself?
[image by afsliva]
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reminds me of some of the best advice I got: "Figure out if you are a builder or a dreamer. Both are needed in our work. Very rarely is one person both." Its helped me out a lot by just acknowledging that I can't be an expert in everything and that I need others to accomplish anything. I consider myself a dreamer.
Rodlie, I may consider myself a dreamer, but I have no affinity for that quote above. I feel your pain. Some one gave me the book "The Sacred Romance." It was like a bad headache. Sorry to those who liked it.
Yeah, I just don't like things that aren't practical. Things that are too out of touch just aren't for me.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha….. Rodlie, too funny, my man. Yes, you ARE a MECHANIC. You are a thorough bred, die hard, no-nonsense, practical concrete thinker – which I really wanted to say "doer" instead of "thinker" seeing how you function, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and trust that there is thought behind your doing. I told you this last year – that it appears to me you have the gift set of being an extremely gifted Executive/Teaching Pastor. In that conversation you said you also are a Visionary and like to make the vision become a reality. Hey man, if you can be and do both… more power to you. I pray God blesses your ministry. I have to force myself to be a mechanic. I like to study mechanics but it's because I want to see, know and understand how my philosophy turns into actuality. I'm constantly drawn to the dream and must make serious effort to keep my feet on the ground. But I've noticed in 10 years of pastoral ministry that my desire and emphasis changes, almost like the seasons. Perhaps your desire for mechanics is the result of the season of life and ministry you find yourself in currently. For example, I know that over the past several years (and especially last year) as I was beginning to start a new church, the season turned into a very practical and strategic one. Maybe your drive to grow the health and size of your church is influencing your obsession with the mechanics of ministry. Just a suggestion to ponder. Or maybe you are just wired that way and you truly would make an amazing Executive/Teaching Pastor.
Rodlie i could understand the aspect of wanting something that is practical, I sometimes say that if my theology isn't practical than it's just a statement, an ideology…(some may disagree)…yet i agree to a point with what Chris mentions…in 7 years of ministry i too have realized that my practical desire in ministry has changed…i don't want to sound like i have all this experience and if i come out that way forgive me because i'm definitly still learning…yet in the 3 different districts i've been, some 8 different churches being practical and the different mind sets in the different places well, i had to be more than a mechanic, though i didn't want too…
Yup. I agree. Could totally have to do with the season I'm in right now. I want to see the church grow and be healthy, and just feel like I don't have time for things that are not practical. It's not that I hate theology or anything. I love theology, as long as I can find an application for it and it sends you somewhere. It's the whole "what you believe (theology) affects how you behave (practics)" I just see a lot of theology that is not rooted in practicts and it frustrates me.
What does it mean to be "more than a mechanic"? What did you become? How did you have to adapt or modify? Just wondering.
well i will just say that the quote you mention that makes you vomit, may actually help someone else in a practical (mechanic) way, my mechanics just may be a bit different than others…
true, true. Yeah, that what I love about the body of CHrist is that we're all different. I have friends that are more analytical and scholarly. That have slightly different "specialties", if you will. And I think that's great. I just know that I'll never be an OT professor. I like preaching, church growth, discipleship. Those kinds of stuff. Cheers!