Re: What the "F" !?!

A few weeks ago there was late night discussion in a second story apartment in St. Charles, Missouri. We spoke of good things and eventually wondered what had become of the unclassifiable person whose ministry many had seen for some time but whom all knew could not ever be reigned in or controlled by anything less than the Spirit of God. Through our discussion, a comical metaphor came about, and though it was meant for jest, it truly does accurately reveal what has happened all over our country. Through whatever motivation, the American concept of ministerial education has become something more along the lines of a factory/package sorting program than a anointing driven passion. We look for the needs and attempt to fill them by educating people and fitting them in to the gap. We recognize only a few types of normal ministry and leave the rest as something unique and special and probably eccentric. To reveal what I mean, this is the story.

...................................................................
All around you are conveyor belts... they run this way and that, going in and out of tubes and tunnels to wherever the next stop along the line of ministry building is. Daily, thousands of packages come into the room and it is your job to sort them out and send them to their respective places of use and development. Each package is marked with a letter, something to distinguish it from the other uses it's counterparts may work within. You've been doing this for several years now and really seem to have it down pat. Coming your way is today's line...

A... this one seems to be the most typical. You have never seen the inside of the package, but know that tons of them come through every week. You assume they are used up pretty quickly and are usually in high demand for the lack of their stamina. Pastors of local small churches, you wonder. Seems to fit the dynamics of what you see in your building each week. You move it to the "A" belt and turn back to sort the rest...

D... Not quite as typical as the A liners, but still in pretty high demand. It's often striped or spotted, something fun and pizazzy marks the D's and you know children are in mind when these come to the line. Who knows what they originally were or what they've gone through, but man are they fun. Time to sort them out and keep it moving so you place the box on the "D" belt and move on...

C... oh ho! You don't see one of these every day! WOW! You've never actually seen one unleashed and you have no idea what it means to be a part of a C functioning ministry. They tend to come wrapped in armor, you know their work must be dangerous. Perhaps these are the foreign missionaries? Perhaps the underground leaders? You really don't know, all you know is that somehow they always seem to get banged up and bruised when you see them come through again.

B... what's to say? You don't know. The "almost there" mindset of these boxes distinguish them from the others. You know the time has been going for some while in their lives and that the numbers are through the roof for their ministerial success. People are always looking for a B to come turn their church into a mega plex and somehow they just don't seem to be moving like they used to. Oh well, down the B chute for it, you know someone's waiting on the other end.

E... Haha, you know exactly what this guy is all about. The passion and energy exude from the box and you know some youth groups somewhere will be pumped up for a few months while E gets a feel for how to connect and stay relevant. The E's come through pretty often in your experience, perhaps quantitatively more so than the A or D, but you've seen a lot of these E's before and know they're often in for re-education and growth experiences so that they remain hip.

The day continues on... A, B, E, D, B, A, A, A, E, B, D, E, B, A, B, A, E, E, E, E, D, F...

Hold up.
F?
What the... F?
Whats an F?
You haven't seen one of these in years and years... in fact, as you glance towards the "F" chute you know it's been at least five since anythings gone that way. The cobwebs and obsolete look forlorn and very discouraging. When was the last time you sent anything that way? Who knows...

F?

You're certain this has been outmoded. It has to have been, nothing can account for the lack of call. You wonder what should be done. You realize something must have gotten mixed up somewhere, and know exactly what to do.

F + _ = E

PERFECT! You know this is what should be done and send the mistagged package down it's chute and continue with your work, wondering just what the F really was in it's time.

C, D, E, E, E, E, A, A, A, A, B, B, D, D, A...
.....................................................................................

There are thousands of men and women around the world who have felt a special calling and anointing from God on their heads. They know they are not youth pastors, children's workers, senior pastors, associate pastors, worship leaders, or missionaries in any of the slightly traditional understandings of these roles. They are the F's. They are the few who will spend years living in broken down homes in the middle of wherever, inner city, anywhere. Where violence and drugs do not enrage them but break them and to hear of a mom leaving a dad because of abuse is not uncommon. Where the people they minister to could have been on the run for years and years and they may go home tonight and never see them again. The F population has been convinced that it's place is in the building, behind a desk, or on the other side of the world instead of on the street, in the car, next door. There are wives and husbands who know they married F's and then one day find themselves searching for that undeniable passion that risks it all, "F!? F!? Where are you? I know I married you? Where have you gone?!" There are youth pastors and senior pastors who will never feel the peace of obedience as long as they are convinced that the church building is their place of ministry. There are men and women who have been gifted to connect with the tossed aside, the broken, used, and the discarded but will never find them sitting across the desk from them in their office. What have we done in slowly outmoding such a gift? I know a few F's myself and I know that their hopes and dreams are to go... who knows where (often only they know of their dream)... but just to go, yet they feel to go means to put too much on the line (though I do not know where this lie has originated, I know that if anything impedes the call of God on a life, it does not reflect the will of the Father). I have seen a few F's released... one such would be Rich Mullins. Anyone who know what I mean by unusual or counter-norm now have an example. I see him as an F, but I would like to know when the other F's will be freed... when the F's will go and make disciples of those the rest will not touch and do so with a blessing and a faithful word that says "WE HAVE YOUR BACK! THOUGH YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE US, WE KNOW YOU MUST GO AND WE SEND YOU EAGERLY!"

I dream of a Church where the F's are sent and blessed on their way out. I dream of a Church where the F's remain as they were from life to death and husbands and wives do not wonder what has happened to the people they were so willing to go anywhere with.

Do you?

Then get the "F's" out of there!

If you are one...

GO.