Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Ministry as Friendship

Source: No Longer Servants but Friends by Edward C. Zaragoza. pg 86.
Scripture: John 15:15
Keywords: ministry, ordination, sacrifice

"The pastor who adopts the friendship paradigm is not only collegial, this pastor also does not need authority or control to be a pastor. To be fully alive is to be vulnerable and not to hide or deny one's own feelings and emotions of others. This pastor relies not on personal power or charisma but on the Spirit. He or she does not flaunt moral duty but lives a life of "head, heart, and hands" for the empowerment, healing and growth of others. This empowerment may not be easily measurable, and it is not synonymous with self-sacrifice. Human beings who are fully alive give of themselves, but they do not give themselves away. They give of themselves by being in relationship, not by remaining isolated so that when a relationship is needed it feels as if something was lost in the transaction."

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