From Solitude, to Community, to Ministry

“The word discipleship and the word discipline are the same word--that has always fascinated me. Once you have made the choice to say, “Yes, I want to follow Jesus,” the question is, “What disciplines will help me remain faithful to that choice?” If we want to be disciples of Jesus, we have to live a disciplined life.”

--Henri Nouwen

When I think about Christians, several words come to mind, but one of the first ones is “busy.” We are so caught up in this postmodern culture, believing that all perceived realities are really just social constructs. We find meaning in how many things that we do, how many (expensive) things that we buy, and how we maintain or achieve a well-respected position within the confines of our culture’s social constructs that pose as absolute truth and reality. By the time Sunday rolls around, we are too tired to engage fully in community. If we can’t engage in community, how can we even think about doing ministry? Well, we can’t. Or we can, but we do it halfheartedly. If we’re going to do it that way, we may as well not do it at all.

If we are constantly so busy and exhausted and unable to be fully present in communal settings with fellow believers, something must change. The change should start with our schedules. I like the quote above by Henri Nouwen. Oh yes, we are very disciplined. We organize our planners and keep our calendars on hand and make all of our appointments on time, but we forget to schedule in time for the Lord. It is really sad that we have to use the words “schedule” and “God” in the same sentence, but that is what our culture has helped us become. I’m guilty of it. Sometimes I get to the end of my day and realize I haven’t spent a moment in solitude with God until my head hits the pillow.

This is the missing component. We cannot engage in community and move from there into effective ministry if we do not begin with solitude. Think about Jesus. In Luke 6, He spends a night in prayer--alone. In the morning, He summons His disciples to Him and chooses 12 of them as apostles. After this, the Sermon on the Mount begins. Solitude--community--ministry. Jesus does it right. He spends an entire night in prayer before taking part in community, and finds peace and stability within community before beginning to minister to the crowds.

We tend to find our identities in the places that we put most of our time and effort. Those on the outside looking in at Christians probably identify us as overcommitted, exhausted, and spread too thin. If I don’t spend time alone with the Lord and allow Him to remind me where my true identity lies, this will be reflected in the way that I approach community and ministry. If outsiders view us as too busy and overcommitted, don’t you think that probably applies to how they view our faith, community, and ministry as well? I don’t want to be seen as someone who is “too busy” to be fully committed to my faith and ministry.

This makes me think of the second and fourth verses of the hymn “Take Time to be Holy.” The words are as follows:

Take time to be holy,

The world rushes on;

Spend much time in secret

with Jesus alone;

By looking to Jesus,

Like Him thou shalt be;

Thy friends in thy conduct

His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy,

Be calm in thy soul;

Each thought and each motive

beneath His control.

Thus led by His spirit

to fountains of love,

thou soon shalt be fitted

for service above.

Sowing seeds in the right places produces good fruit. Spending time nurturing a relationship

 with the Lord produces good relationships and effective ministry.

Father,
Please bless us in our pursuit of relationships with You, others, and in our ministry. We love you.

Through Jesus,

Amen.

Erin Daugherty
Abilene Christian University