What is my value?

Last week I received an email that ended, from a person that doesn't know me, saying; "thanks for all you do." All of us like to be thanked for what we do. But I was interested as to what he meant as he is unfamiliar with my role, personality and character. I am sure he was being encouraging but in a conversation with a friend we chatted about what signals this sends out. Are me more excited or interested in what people do rather than who they are? For example: What is the first question we ask when we meet someone new? The thing is, I realised that I do the same. I have ended many an email to my leadership team " thanks for all you do" in an genuine attempt to encourage them for the way they lead the church. I wonder if I have missed something or even worse sent the wrong signals to them. Do I care more about what they do or who they are?

It is easy to value people for what they do because we can see the results of their labour and efforts. It is also important that people are encouraged for what they do and the quality of their work (whatever the level of profession ). It is free and only takes a moment but can yield results and increase performance. People want to be thanked and encouraged but we (the church) could simply become an organisation reward good deeds, success and effort rather than celebrating diversity, character and even failure. In leadership, it's easy to slip into an attitude of "what can I get from others" rather than seeking to support and resource them in their own unique ministry.

In the past few weeks I have begun to put various other things at the end to encourage people for who they are rather than what they do. I need to keep working on this and develop both my attitude and skill in valuing people for the depth and diversity of their character rather than simply what they can do for me, the church or even God.

Surely, God is more interested in who we are. I pray I will be too.

Matt

Tragets, priorities, projects and people

I was at a meeting yesterday with local partner organisations from the West area of Nottingham. It was really helpful for me to get a extended view of what is going in the area and meet a few local workers and show that the church is interested in community. Yet as the meeting went on, I grew very aware that allow a lot of "good stuff" was going on, they were all targeted at certain groups or priorities and actually could be quite harmful to communities. All the projects had strings attached, funding stipulations or a certain percentage for certain groups. People were spoke of as commodities rather than as human beings who exist in community.

It has really got me thinking again about how we do mission, how we do effective mission in Aspley as a church. Projects and events are all well and good but are pointless if they are not firstly grounded in the gospel and secondly built on a foundation of relationships. Whats the point of mission without being intentional about our reasons? Are we scared that we won't get funding from people if we tell them we are Christians? Should we just do our own thing in isolation anyway?

I believe that the church needs to be more positive about it's intentions and be willing to be bold in it's mission. Yet, we need to make sure we do not alienate ourselves from reality, from other organisations, those who make decisions and of course our communities.

Matt