Another Monday...Genesis

Why do you write these things?

Yesterday morning at church, four different people asked me about the genesis of this little offering, Another Monday.

“Why did you start a blog on Mondays?”
“Why Another Monday?”
“When did you know you wanted to write?”

If you don’t read to the end, at least read this: I had no plans.

As best I can recall my first Another Monday I simply offered myself to the staff at the church I was working with at the time and, without much thought, wrote:

“Another Monday where the big will try to distract us from the small. Don’t be afraid to be faithful in the small things. They matter.”

It didn’t feel like a big step of faith.
It didn’t feel like the beginning of a new chapter.
Truthfully it didn’t seem risky…

Just a few thoughts, which led to a few more thoughts…
And over the past three years, these thoughts have changed me, much more than they’ve changed those of you reading along.

Don’t rush past that.

Often, what the Lord wants us to offer to the community around us is what He intends to use to change us. As we open our hands and release our gifts and talents, the Lord begins His work in us.

Am I being faithful to offer myself to those around me? Not only for their sake but to be faithful to offer myself, regardless of how it is received.

I confess, I often pray for change in those around me more than I pray for my own change:
“Help them. Change them. Open their eyes to see. Help them believe…”
Translation: If You would change them, it sure would make my life easier.

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

________________________

The last couple of weeks have held some of my favorite sermons I’ve ever offered and I think I know why.
They are heart messages. Don’t think emotional (though if you know me, there has been plenty of that), think “heart” being the core of who we are as men and women in Christ. They come from a place where the Lord is doing deep work in me about my identity, who He is calling the church to be, and what pastoring might look like in the years ahead.
(You can usually tell when a pastor is preaching from a burden being birthed in them, versus just transferring information… but that’s for Another Monday.)

Our people have been so encouraging, and by God’s grace, the messages have met them. But in a deeper part of me, I’ve worshiped:
How kind that God would use the journey I’m on to shape, inform others, and change others.

My goal can’t be to shape, inform, or change others… that is God’s job and He is really good at His job. My job is to keep paying attention to the Spirit of God and offering myself as I can.

Most of you reading along may never preach a sermon, but you will serve on a PTA, lead a team, or run an organization.
You may not write Another Monday or craft a worship service, but you’ll be in the workroom the moment a coworker breaks down over a parenting decision or a subtle confession of loneliness is offered.

Most of my life doesn’t entail writing or preaching sermons, it’s typically being faithful with small decisions, present with people right in front of me, and open to the Spirit of God’s guidance for today.

_________________________________

If I could circle back to those who asked about the genesis of this little offering, I might just say:
“I was just trying to be faithful to offer myself to those I love.”

There are more of us now, but the challenge is still the same:

Go offer yourself to those you love. It might just change you.

JC.