Sacrifice of The Mundane

I wrote this ages ago, but I think (at least I hope) the lesson I learned is worth sharing.

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I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how hard life as a ‘real disciple’ is possibly meant to be.  Reading scriptures like ‘whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple’, at a time I’m finding more than a little hard on a personal level, has led me to consider the future and all the hardship that may well lie within it, especially as I begin going down this Church leadership/full-time ministry route. I know, it’s not all bad, and it’s not going to be- mine is the God who both gives and takes away, the God of seasons who blesses us with good times and carries us through the storms… But if we face the facts, a lot of the time, this life just is really hard… and that’s actually part of the promise- not that life following Christ will make things easier, but better… Better, but harder.

And yet, in the midst of all this reflection, oscillating between resultant resilience and sheer fear, today I find my ‘doing the Lord’s work’ occupation brings nothing more or less than a profoundly tedious and frankly boring task. I’ve spent chunks of the afternoon trawling through the same repetitive process of data input in an attempt to set up a series of automated emails so that members of our congregation can be updated daily with details relating to our corporate ‘rhythm of prayer’. Is this part of the job important? You bet. Is it difficult or scary? Not really. Is it enjoyable? Definitely not…

See, what I’m getting to is this: while I’ve been sat here constantly clicking copy and paste and slowly but surely numbing my brain into a stupor, I have tried to hold in mind simultaneously an awareness that I’m doing this for a very good reason; that this initiative, once it is eventually executed, will be of benefit to many, as a process of prayer will be of ultimate impact to our ministry, and thus lead to lives transformed… and so, even as I’m bored half to death and not energized or stimulated, yet I remain motivated, knowing that this is all part of the job too; realizing that the eventual effectiveness and success of ministry depends not only upon a sacrifice of pain, but also on a willingness to serve in the dreary tasks that need doing- indeed ministry that makes a difference will also require a sacrifice of the mundane.