STABILITY AND NEEDING TO STAY HOME

Last updated on: March 23, 2020 at 11:42 am by C. Don Jones

STABILITY AND NEEDING TO STAY HOME 2020-03-23T11:42:44-06:00 C. Don Jones

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The New Testament writers understood the importance of social stability. The letters of Ss. Peter and Paul include requests for prayers for the leaders of the government to provide peace, security, and order. These prayers are not acts of patriotic support for the government or the empire. They are offered for good order to be preserved so that the church can experience peace. Essentially, the writings of the New Testament reflect a community living in exile. They followed the example of Jeremiah writing to the exiles of his day. “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:7)

Stability is a desired state for the Christian. St. Benedict in his Rule declares that the two types of monks that are the most detestable are the sarabaites and the gyrovagues. These two types are said to “take their own desires and pleasures as their laws, calling their every whim holy, and claiming that whatever they do not want to do is unlawful” and “always moving from one place to another and never remaining in the same place, indulging in their own desires and caught in the snares of greed” respectively.

How Important is Stability?

Early in my own ministry I had a really good experience at one place that was followed by a bad experience at another place. My response to the bad situation was to think about the previous one too much. I believed the new place would benefit from the example of the old place. I used examples and told stories from my experience in my previous place of ministry. It did not go over very well, as you can imagine.

I dropped out of active ministry for a time after that wondering if I had made a mistake in career choice and continued the self-indulgence of feeling sorry for myself for awhile. I sought counsel from other ministers and prayed and reflected while working a factory job. During this time, I learned the importance of practicing stability for ministers.

Years into my renewed ministry a church member came to ask me an important question. I was moving to a new church. She asked me the following question, “How can you go somewhere else when you have [this place] in your heart?” My practice of presence or stability had made a difference in my work.

Stability is an important practice for ministers especially for those of us in an itineracy system. Being where we are demonstrates concern for “the welfare of the place where we have been sent.” A colleague once remarked that we should start thinking in terms of the parish model rather than the local congregation model.

The Fruit of Stability

Practicing stability is basically staying where you are. I became a joiner. I got involved in many areas of community life. Serving in a local foodbank was an easy move if my congregation supported the ministry before I arrived. Getting involved in children’s sports and school activities was just as easy because I had children.

The parish model of ministry helped expand my thinking and practice of ministry. Beyond the activities I spoke of above, I found other ways of getting the congregations involved. I admit that some of these ways were taught to me by the congregations. A Christmas cantata in a small town often requires the involvement of two or more local church choirs. A community heritage event could include a worship time involving many churches with an offering being taken for the sake of a community based ministry. Ecumenical Thanksgiving services are good ways to introduce lay members to one another. A joint Easter Sunrise service can be beneficial to community stability.

I was fortunate to serve a charge and a small rural community because one of my predecessors approached the county mayor and asked, “What can the church do to help?” The mayor said it was the first time a pastor ever asked him that question. An idea for how the church could reach out to the community became opportunities for mutual ministries. Church membership, attendance, and budgets did not necessarily grow. But, the importance of the church to the welfare of the community increased in each place.

Staying Home

The public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak asks people to maintain physical distance from our neighbors. Calling the act social distancing is a mistake. The error is evident when we keep talking about the importance of distancing for the sake of the most vulnerable. Physical distancing is being done for the sake of each other no matter our own state of health. Congregations that are live streaming worship are doing so for physical distancing for the sake of health. Worshipping in such ways are not examples of social distancing. Many churches have been doing this already for people who could not attend in the church buildings or meeting places so that they may stay connected.

I note that my neighbors are maintaining physical distancing. At the same time, we check on each other more often. I sat outside one evening reading when my neighbor on his way to work offered encouragement because he knows I live alone. Because we are experiencing cabin fever, we sit outside more and wave to each other and inquire how the other is doing.

When we can’t stay home we have an opportunity to express gratitude. There are times when we must go to the grocery store or other places we need to be. It is a good time to say “thank you” to retail and delivery workers. Saying “thank you” to the customer is part of their job. It is an arrangement we are used to. It is time to open our eyes and see that our welfare is connected to theirs.

Stability as Being

We can criticize the efforts of government leaders at this time. Don’t simply be critics. Continuing prayers for their work are important for reminding us that the welfare of our homes and communities require our efforts.

Biblical Interpretation

Community

Love as action

Previous Post

March 19, 2020

Sufficiently Religious

Next Post

March 27, 2020 Truth Is Important

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Afghanistan Anxiety Ascension Sunday Baptism Barack Obama Biblical Interpretation Bigotry Book Banning BSA Buddhism Choice Christmas Church Discipline Community Conscience Conspiracy theories COVID-19 Culture Wars death cults deconstruction Devotional Divine Judgment Donald Trump Earth Day Election Day empathy Environmentalism Evangelism Exploitation of the Poor Faith False Claims fascism Fear Forgiveness Genocide government Grace Gun Violence Halloween Hate Health Hillbilly Elegy Hindu Holy Communion Holy Week Homelessness Hope Identity Integrity Islam Joe Biden John Hagee Kamala Harris Labor Lent Liberation Theology Lies Love Love as action Neurological disorders Non-Christian Religions Online Worship Original Goodness Pandemic Peace Pentecost Philosophy Preaching Progressive Christianity Racism Redemptive Violence Myth Resentment Saint's Days Satire Sobriety social media Spiritual Self Care Spirituality Technology The Kingdom of God The United Methodist Church Theology Transfigurations Sunday Transgender persons Truth Uncategorized Violence Wesleyan Working Class

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 October 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 February 2018 January 2018 August 2017 May 2017 November 2016 July 2016 June 2016 November 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 June 2013 March 2013 February 2013 December 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 February 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the first book of the New Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

John Luke Mark Matthew