Dear friends,
One time early in my ministry a member of my church asked me to come to “career day” at the elementary school where she worked. It was set up kind of like a science fair, so we didn’t have separate time to make a speech or anything like that. We had a table, and kids would come by and talk to us. This was my first time being asked to do something like this, so I was pretty excited, and was short lived. Because, on my left was a firefighter with all of his gear, and on my right was a police officer with a dog. How can I compete with that? I brought my robe…which is kind of fun, I guess?
I was at the Candler School of Theology for a career fair this week and felt similar to that time in the elementary school. To my right was the Carter Center, recruiting students to help solve human rights violations and diseases all around the world. To my left, was MAP, a non-profit that works with pharmaceutical companies to distribute medicines to underserved communities around the world. We were one of two churches who even dared to be in the room with non-profits and NGOs all over the place recruiting the best and the brightest from Emory. There’s no way working in a church can compete with that, right?
Except, people came up to us, and handed us their resumes. They wanted to know about our church and how they might fit in. Sometimes, through life experience or otherwise, I forget how important the work of the church is. I forget my own sense of call, and how important it is in doing what I do. these students, who were brilliant and had so many opportunities around them, came up to our table and said, I want to work in a church because that is where I am called. To pray with people. To offer the presence of the Holy Spirit by my own. To preach and teach the word of God so that they might hear God’s call upon their lives! It’s amazing how much and how quickly we can forget how important we are in God’s eyes.
Peace,
Jordan