pastoral care
How do we grow resilient?
Andrew Collins
Pastoral ministry calls for resilience. As we carry one another’s burdens we carry the weight that Paul called “concern for the churches” (2 Corinthians 11v28). It’s a pressure that reveals our weakness. To bring the riches of the gospel in pastoral care is a privilege. But we carry that treasure in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4v7) that are breakable and perishable. Clay pots were utensils that lacked resilience.
Resilience as a concept has its origins in the world of engineering where it denoted a material that could recover from the strain or deformation caused by stress, hence the popular shorthand, “bouncing back”. But clay jars aren’t very malleable!
pastoral care
How can we offer safe care?
Andrew Collins
God is concerned about safety and protection. He is a refuge: a place of safety where we can be protected from danger, where we can hide and feel safe from harm. God is a shield of protection, a rock to hide behind, a wing to take shelter beneath, a father in whose arms we are safely embraced.
One day we will be safe forever in Christ from all threats and dangers. But, even now, God is concerned that His church is a place of care and growth, safe from harmful words and actions (think James, for example, and warnings against favouritism, gossip, in-fighting and anger).
pastoral care
Feeling out of tune today?
Andrew Collins
I was feeling a little low, weary, and ‘out of sorts’: just not quite right. I wasn’t sick. Maybe just tired? But spiritually things were flat.
I was missing a sense of the Lord’s nearness. The vitality of my soul seemed to be waning. What was up? Did I just need a rest? Or was there something I needed to repent of?