"Ministry"

Hi, if you are checking out the blog you may know that we play lots of different types of shows from Churches to pubs to universities to full concerts. The reason for having this blog is so that Rob and I can say what’s on our mind and connect with the people that are making our career happen.

This is a subject that has long been discussed by Rob and I on long road trips to and from our shows. I thought that it might make sense to type it out one day…

Ministry is one of those words that, believe it or not, can carry a bit of a negative weight to it these days. At its core the word ministry is how we should all be living our daily lives. It’s not our job, or our volunteer work, it’s our lives. But who wants to tag that word to our lives… the word that represents to some an ingrown out of touch way of “reaching out” to more churchgoers. And what kind of non-Christian can relate to church lingo and culture that they have never been exposed to before… and can be, frankly, a little strange? The very word ministry falls into the “church lingo and culture” category that the majority of our people can’t even understand.

So many people are searching for something spiritual, and so many Christians have no way of relating to the world and its people because they haven’t exposed themselves to anything but today’s modern church culture; a culture that is partly out of touch with its current surroundings. When I was growing up I was scared into believing that people were going to hate me for being a Christian, so I hid it a bit… only let it out when I thought that I was safe. It’s so easy to find that safe spot in the church… go to Christian Bible College get a job in the “ministry” never ever see the light of day and live our whole life in the comfort zone. People don’t hate Christians; they hate the symbol of Christianity that has evolved over the last couple of centuries because religion has been used as a seat of power for power hungry men.

What about just being who we are? That’s sort of “in” these days anyway! So many people are trying to be individuals in a world that feels like we may just be another spec on the pile. That’s what I mean about the word ministry… it’s our life on our sleeves. What I’m trying to say is that we should just be who we are as Christians… just be open and stop worrying about what other people are doing and thinking, touch the people around us with a genuine love and treat them as special, open the doors of communication and break down the walls that Christianity has managed to build so strongly in the name of religion. What are we afraid of? People respond positively to love and community.


deni