Acts 6:5 "They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit"
I really had to pause after reading this for a few reasons:
1) That is a great reason to choose someone to be on the team of people who would do ministry among the Grecian Jews. Do we use this type of criteria when we are selecting leaders in ministry? Sometimes (as a person who has worked at 4 different churches) I feel like ministries allow themselves to get desperate and they are willing to fill rolls with anyone who is willing and eager to do the job. Sometimes God uses that in amazing ways. Unfortunately, sometimes we pass up an opportunity for a great season of ministry because we did not wait for a person who is full of faith and of the Holy Spirit to come.
2) Then I wondered... would people in my life describe me as a person who is full of faith and of the Holy Spirit? Especially after the past few weeks, I wouldn't describe myself as a person who is full of faith. Yes, I believe in God and am in an active relationship with him, so I have that kind of "faith", but I often do not believe that God will act even though I know he can. Over the past few weeks, our church has been going through a lot of hard transition (and we will probably be going through more of it in the next 3 months) and it seems like we have lost sight of some of the most important parts of being a church. I have found myself saying that things will work out, but not believing that God will actually fix the problems we have here. It seems like it has been a bad pattern of trying to fix problems, but ending up with solutions that create a temporary, surface-level fix. Deep down in my heart it is hard to believe that God will change the root problems and change the hearts of the influential leaders in such a way that the same thing will not happen again now. However, God has been challenging me to pray fervently that the root problems are unrooted. I am trying to have faith that God will really make the change (not just that he can).
Richard Foster talks about prayer in his book Celebration of Discipline, and it has forever altered the way I pray for sucky situations like this. Good for you, Lissa (pause: is that your real name, or a nickname? Either way I hope it is okay that we just jumped to first name basis ;) haha) Anyway, good for you, Lissa, for not just praying what can often be a cop-out prayer of "Lord, your will be done" but rather having the faith and the boldness to say, "Lord, I know your desire is for wholeness; for this church to be an accurate and honorable representation of your character; for it to be a vibrant witness to its community both geographically and culturally. Come and have your way not only in my heart but in the hearts of every member and leader here. Direct us, and transform us and this church body for your glory!" I'm sorry your church is so very "human" right now but I hope you see how blessed they are to have at least one member who is actively seeking God and being led by his Spirit! Keep it up!
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