I joined a pastor peer group last week. There's five of us from a bunch of churches and one campus ministry. We found the following paragraph from Henri Nouwen thought provoking. What do YOU think about it? "We belong to a generation that wants to see the results of our work. We want to be productive and see with our own eyes what we have made. But that is not the way of God's kingdom. Often our witness for God does not lead to tangible results. Jesus himself died as a failure on a cross. There was no success there to be proud of. Still, the fruitfulness of Jesus' life is beyond any human measure. As faithful witnesses of Jesus we have to trust that our lives too will be fruitful, even though we cannot see their fruit. The fruit of our lives may be visible only to those who live after us. What is important is how well we love. God will make our love fruitful, whether we see that fruitfulness or not."
1 comment:
Anonymous
said...
Jesus died as a failure on the cross? I can only presume he meant in the eyes of the world. It's true though that it may be after we're long gone that anyone recognizes our efforts; anyone besides God, that is.
Happily married to my high school sweetheart Jackie for 28 years, we have two children Joshua and Lydia. Years ago someone asked them what their daddy did for a job and they said, "He talks about Jesus on stage and shows people that God loves them like crazy!!!" I still do.
1 comment:
Jesus died as a failure on the cross? I can only presume he meant in the eyes of the world. It's true though that it may be after we're long gone that anyone recognizes our efforts; anyone besides God, that is.
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