I have heard some lamenting over the past year when it comes to workers in the church. This cartoon I drew about volunteers and donuts in 2013 reminds me that volunteering has changed dramatically since the pandemic.
While some teenagers may still be as enthusiastic as the guy in the cartoon, it has been a challenge to recruit volunteers. This article from Christianity Today illustrates the challenges many churches are facing.
If the last two years have taught us anything, we have learned that the best-laid plans never go as planned. There are circumstances and surprises that come out of nowhere. In fact, we may be tempted to utter along with Curly, “I’m a victim of circumstance!“
I thought I had life all figured out until I had children. Planning was easy when my wife and I started our lives together. For the most part, we were on the same page and had similar goals. But when we had kids, I discovered they didn’t always share the same goals like when was the proper bedtime, how to behave at restaurants, and when was the optimal time to begin potty training.
Change can be hard in churches and in children’s ministry. I remember one church that had some old curriculum dating back ten years or more. One of the teachers was comfortable with it and had no desire to update or refresh the lessons.
This led to the following cartoon idea:
Truths are timeless. But cultural references can get stale quickly. If you have a curriculum that references pet rocks, mimeographs, or George Beverly Shea, your lessons probably need to be updated.
That isn’t to say new is always better. Many churches are on tight budgets. Plus, lessons of the past can have a solid track record that the new curriculum can’t compete with. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it, right?
That said, I sympathize with publishing houses. After all, It is very difficult to keep a business going when past lessons work just fine. Is it the teacher’s problem that a publishing house needs to keep the lights on? No, but we lose something special when we lose a publisher due to economics.
I’ve been on the side of the teacher’s desk and the publisher’s. I’ve come to realize we need each other. Without innovation coming from publishers, we begin to lose our effectiveness to reach new generations. And without affordable options, teachers have to find ways to cut costs without losing their ability to reach kids.
In other words, Kids haven’t changed over the years, but culture sure has! What may have grabbed a child’s attention in the 1970s won’t do so now. Technology has grown and our attention spans have shrunk. We need to keep teaching timeless truths but do so in a dialect that speaks to today’s culture.
I drew this cartoon for Kidzmatter Magazine.
Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.
Today, we will almost certainly need to maintain our composure. If we are parents of young kids, we’ll need it. Waiting for that business deal, or dealing with the workflow will require us to be patient. And someone who is inconsiderate, insincere, or just rude will require a little more from us. We all need a heaping dose of patience.
One of those areas will affect some of us more than others. Yet, there is someone all of us will need great tolerance for. That person is ourselves. This quote reminds us we need to give ourselves a break.
“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them – every day begin the task anew.”
Saint Francis de Sales (1567 – 1622)
Of all the people we need patience with, ourselves can be the hardest. We know our thoughts and actions. We can be hard on ourselves way too much. If we have high standards, we will most likely fall short.
However, we all need to give ourselves a break. Because if we aren’t patient with ourselves, we are going to get stuck. Our frustration with our own imperfections will keep us from moving forward.
Instead of mulling over why we did this or that, consider what it would look like to improve. That will keep us moving in the right direction instead of wasting all of our time berating ourselves for our imperfections.
When we give ourselves grace, we are in a much better place to help others. It opens us up to empathy because we can acknowledge we aren’t perfect. High standards are good until it makes us intolerant of human behavior. What is the point of perfection if it alienates us from others?
When we acknowledge we still have much to learn, it helps us to have the patience and empathy to teach others.
Today, let’s give ourselves a little grace, learn from our imperfections and mistakes, and move forward. It can even help us teach others how to overcome some of the obstacles we have faced.
How many of us love to go somewhere where we know we will be torn down? Who loves an atmosphere that drips with discouragement and criticism? None of us, I bet. It is far better to be at a place where we encourage each other!
If you’ve read many of my posts, you know I value encouragement and like to give it. To me, it is the key to motivation. None of us like to be criticized. Yet, we all need to learn how to improve. It can be a fine line between being taught how to improve and being torn down. As a result, we must be careful to do more building up than tearing down.
I like to keep this verse in mind:
“Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV) via Biblegateway.com
In the Apostle Paul’s epistles, there were plenty of instances where he had to rebuke and steer a person or church in the right direction. Yet, he also seasoned them with thanksgiving and encouragement. He knew there was always something positive to highlight. We all need to know there is something we are doing right. Otherwise, what’s the point?
So when someone frustrates us, let’s try encouragement. Find at least one thing the person is doing right. Consider how you would feel if all you heard was negative. How can you find something good to highlight along with the factor that needs improvement. A little motivation along with instruction could go a long way!