This is the second of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC.
As I think about ministry at GBC, I am thankful for family. Specifically, I am thankful for my family.
Paul tells the Corinthians that it is better to remain single because the interests of a married man are divided — he is concerned about how to care for his wife (1 Cor. 7:32-34). That is no criticism by Paul; it is merely to recognize a reality that a married man has joyful responsibilities and those concerns will distract him from ministry.
Further, Paul reminds Timothy and the elders at Ephesus that a man’s ability to lead in the congregation is dependent on the stability of his marriage and the faithfulness of his children. In other words, not only can a man be distracted from ministry by the normal cares of the home, but he can also be disqualified from ministry because of his failure in the home.
In other words, a family can make it hard for a man to do ministry outside his home. A family can exert extraordinary demands and pressures that inhibit his broader ministry. Many men have left vocational ministry for those very kinds of reasons.
Yet it is also true that a family can enhance a pastor’s ministry. A wife can be an asset in recognizing the call to serve others besides her; children can see the demands of ministry and rather than being angry and resentful, can respond in joyful service along with the family. While marriage can create additional demands that draw a man away from certain ministry possibilities, at the same time it is also true that marriage and family can enhance ministry and create ministry possibilities that might not otherwise be recognized.
And that is why I am grateful for family — for my family. They have not only made ministry possible and “easy,” but they have enhanced my ministry at GBC. I cannot carry out my responsibility as pastor without them, and they joyfully embrace the privileges of this calling.
Many times Raye Jeanne has made sacrifices known only to me and her and she has done it with joy — often encouraging and exhorting me (“Go…”) when I have been reticent or hesitant. She understands the demands and embraces them and delights in the sacrifice.
Likewise our daughters, now nearing departure from our home, have seen the various demands and pressures and my weaknesses and failures and their response has been to embrace the gospel whole-heartedly and look for ministry opportunities themselves. They are no impediment to my service; they are an enhancement of it.
And that is why I am thankful to God for my family — the ministry that flows from us is singularly a work of His kind grace. He was not required to give us a happy home. But in great grace, He has knit our hearts together around the gospel, and I am profoundly thankful to Him for that kindness.
Words of Grace 