When Your Church Disappoints You
Reflections for Pastors
I was recently deeply hurt by and saddened for the members of my congregation.
You see, creation care is something that has become exceedingly important to my husband and I. I’ve gone down the road of losing my health, turning to holistic health, and slowly unlearning to relearn how to take care of my temple that I destroyed over many decades. This experience and then reading amazing books such as Sandra Richter’s Stewards of Eden, Christopher J.H. Wright’s Knowing God Through the Old Testament, and Creation Care by Douglas and Johnathan Moo, has really helped shape my worldview. Its redefined how I see all of creation and the choices I make within this new framework.
If I had to define creation care its stewardship of all things that God creation. Its stewardship of the land. Its stewardship of the animals. Its stewardship of humans through stewarding the resources in which keep us alive. Its not just stewardship to do so, its compassion, its care, its being moved to love what God has created and to care for it because you also love said creation.
In practicality its not using pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides in your yard that harm insects, plants, and humans. Its growing your own garden if you can and caring for the plants and the soil. Its supporting or buying from local farmers that are living these principles out. Its purchasing grass fed beef from cows that get to live full, gloriously healthy lives that in turn helped the health of the soil, help the health of the human eating it, and more (unless you are vegan then this does not apply). Its recycling. Its bringing your own grocery bags to the store. Less plastic use. Planting milkweed for the monarchs whose populations are dwindling. Its leaving the dandelions and clover in your yard because they are the first food for the bees when they wake from their winter slumber. Its buying local. Its so many little decisions we can make to care for God’s creation instead of harm it. It will never be done perfectly in a world that exists easily on cheap and fast and harmful. It can never be perfect this side of eternity but we can surely try our best. This is creation care to me.
With all of this said, back to the offense. My husband and I had a wonderful idea of partner with a local farm co-op. They opened up volunteer slots for people to come and get their hands dirty and learn and see and taste and hear. The farm we chose was a farm that does a lot in Tulsa, OK to get food into the hands of people living in a food dessert. They have wonderful initiatives to educate, to help, and to feed those living in poverty. They put their farm right in the heart of this food dessert. We were stoked to get the members of our church to this farm to learn about creation care in a tangible way.
Then it happened…First the reluctance. When we first announced the idea and asked what everyone thought they were reluctant but agreed to go. So I became jazzed. Like a small child excited for the birthday party. Then came the individual text message. The hesitations? The sun, were they a Christian ran farm, heat, etc. Slowly that excitement became frustration and then sadness.
We ultimately decided to cancel the outing because they weren’t ready. It wasn’t time. I was trying to force something on a group that was not ready for it. That stung. That part though that really did me in was when we let them know we were going to cancel, crickets. No response, no mention during the next gathering about why we cancelled or what we were thinking. Just silence. Like it was never a thing.
I wrestled (and still find myself wrestling at times) with frustration for my congregation to not see the importance of creation care. I was mad and then that turned into hurt and then that turned into a teaching moment for myself.
I didn’t listen to what I knew to be true. Meet people where they are at and then go from there. I was trying to make my congregation meet me where I was at and when they didn’t meet my expectations I became offended.
The lesson in all of this for me was to go back to the start. Meet them where they are at, take their hands (though they must be willing to take mine in return and move) and start to teach them about creation care in small ways. Start the conversation. Ask questions. Probe. Even teach a Sunday message or two about what creation care means biblically.
As pastors, our congregations members, in which we love so deeply and want to see both understand the Bible and then allow it to transform their very lives, are going to disappoint us. They are going to hurt us. They are going to cause us to jump up and down with joy in praise, and cause us to hit our heads in wonderment as to if they are hearing us. They are going to keep us humble (hopefully), cause us to adapt our messages based on needs or misunderstandings. They will take us through the ringer of emotions but in all of the highs and all of the lows, we must never cease. Never cease to pray for our people. Never give up on them. Never stop learning ourselves and growing ourselves to be living examples for and to them. We must always be disciples ourselves in order to be disciple makers to our people. Our love shall never wane even on the days when they hurt us deeply and be become saddened. This is the body of Christ, working it out together for a greater purpose that is not ourselves.
Pastors, keep going, keep loving, keep teaching, keep learning, keep humbling yourself, never cease, because the sheep need a shepherd who will guide them in the ways of the ultimate shepherd all their days here on earth.
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Other honorable book mentions for Creation care
