Excerpts and Key Points from "Creative Ministry," a book by
Henri Nouwen.
GW’s Introductory Thoughts
The title of this book is “Creative
Ministry.” It is inconceivable to me that an effective ministry can be
anything but creative, so the title is redundant. But that’s neither here
nor there.
What is relevant is deciding how to read this book.
While Nouwen says it “ is about the lifestyle of all
Christians” and that all of us are ministers, at times the book appears to be
directed more to those who
are educated as ministers and priests and who are in paid ministry. He
draws a distinction between the
“lay person” and the ordained, saying the latter are set apart to lead and,
perhaps, inferring that they are
better able to hear the voice of God (pages 110-111). While I'm not
comfortable with that premise -- nor
am I sure Nouwen meant to say what I think he did -- on the whole I found the
book to be thought provoking
and tremendously helpful.
As one who is not in paid ministry, I could choose to read
this for tips on how to evaluate those who are
paid to minister or I could see what Nouwen says to me. I focused on the
latter, especially after reading
about Skotosis … a heart condition that affects our ability to understand
important truths about ourselves.
The Book’s Introduction
On page 5 Nouwen writes “A priest or minister will never
become fruitful without the necessary training
in the core functions of ministry, such as preaching, teaching,
caring, organizing, and celebrating. Thus
he introduces the five chapter topics of his book.
Fortunately he does not stop with the above statement, but
moves on to describe the importance of the spiritual
condition of the minister or priest. “A Christian minister,” he writes,
will never be able to minister, if not rooted
in a real, personal faith that is the very core of pastoral ministry.”
Chapter I- Teaching
Perhaps we’ve put too much emphasis on the content of
teaching without realizing that the teaching relationship
is the most important factor in the ministry of teaching. There are two
basic models of teaching:
1. Violent – competitive, unilateral,
alienating
This form is about grades, peer approval, power.
It supposes someone is competent and someone is not and the
game is to make the one almost as competent as
the other. The teacher is strong; the student is weak.
Communication is in one direction.
2. Redemptive – How can we come to the wisdom
of the flower that says being is more important than doing?
This form tries to bring out the potential of the
student. The teacher must be given the freedom to offer insight
and understanding from his/her own life
experience. And students share with their teachers.
Communication
is two-way. Competition is absent.
Teacher-student learning is two-way.
Nouwen writes that resistance to learning is built into us
(scotosis – a blind spot). Scotosis is what allows us to argue
fiercely for justice and equality while ignoring injustices and inequities all
around us. Scotosis prevents the emergence
into consciousness of perspectives that would give rise to unwanted insights.
Chapter II-Preaching
The purpose of teaching is to help people come to the basic
insight that to be free is to follow Christ and live as authentically
as he did. Insight is an understanding that goes deep into the person and
to which the whole person can say Yes.
On page 31, Nouwen talks about poor preaching.
Leading to poor preaching is the belief that only the preacher has a theology
and everyone needs to think like the preacher does.
Elements essential to preaching:
1. Dialogue – an attitude and relationship that
encourages meaningful conversation. The teacher must be personally
involved.
2. Availability - Available to our own inner selves, and to
others. Being real, being able to offer our lives and our life
experiences to others.
Chapter III – Pastoral Care
Individual pastoral care is in many ways the care most
needed and asked for. Be yourself so you can be creative.
Lose yourself so God can be creative in you. These are not opposites.
Both are needed.
As we mature we are less concerned with self and more
willing to stretch out our hands and follow Him who found his
life by losing it.
The Contract – Many professional relationships between
people fail because of unclear contracts. Often there is a secret
contract that is not clear. As in, someone seeks a listening ear and gets
advice, or asks for advice and gets a sermon.
Nouwen discusses the difference between contracts and
covenants. A contract ends when one side doesn’t stick to it.
In a covenant, there is no condition put on faithfulness. Nouwen says this
difference presents a huge challenge for ministers,
who need to keep serving when they don’t feel appreciated.
“We will find the God we want to give in the lives of the
people we want to give God.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________
“For a person of faith no meeting is accidental.”
GW: This sentence really hit home
for me. Put this with what Paul wrote in II Corinthians
2:14-16 -- about being
the fragrance of Christ -- and we’ve got
the basis for how to deal with people in every circumstance, be it home,
work, neighborhood, family gatherings,
commute traffic, restaurants, you name it.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter IV - Organizing
What is the relationship between spirituality and
organization?” How can ministers be real agents of social change?
Christians are only Christians when they unceasingly ask
critical questions of the society in which they live and continuously
stress the necessity for conversion, not only of the individual but also of the
world. We are only Christian when we refuse
to allow ourselves or anyone else to settle into a comfortable rest. We must
not remain satisfied with the status quo…We
are only Christian when we keep saying to everyone we meet that the Good News of
the Reign of God has to be proclaimed
to the whole world and witnessed to all nations (Matthew 24:13)...We must
believe that this world not only passes but has to
pass in order to let the new world be born…there will never be a moment in this
life in which we can rest in the supposition
that there is nothing left to do. But we will not despair when we do not see
the result we have wanted to see for we will
keep hearing the words of the One sitting on the throne: ‘I am making the whole
of creation new’ (Revelation 21:5).
Nouwen discusses ministers who question the relevance of
the church. They want to be agents of change, but don’t see how
to work within the church. Many feel changing people without changing
structures is a waste of time.
He mentions types of leaders, such as those who rule from
pride or power, or who are convinced they know what others need,
even without asking.
Christian agents of social change are called upon to be
social reformers who do not lose their own souls. They must be
active and prayerful at the same time. Their perspective includes hope directed
to the Giver of all gifts. “We wish that,
but we hope in…”
“They do not worry about the results of their work, because
they believe that God will fulfill all promises and that it is only
a temptation to want to know exactly how this will happen.”
Another perspective is that of “creative receptivity.” “We
who want to bring about change have first of all to learn to be
changed by those whom we want to help.” In Luke 6:21 Jesus is inviting us to
discover the beauty of God in those who
are to be helped. “…in many ways we are the poor and those who need our help
are the wealthy, who have a lot to give…”
Chapter V - Celebrating
The main idea of this chapter is that obedience to God is
the basic condition for being a celebrant of life.
Through celebration we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Ministers are “those who challenge us to celebrate life;
that is, to turn away from fatalism and despair and to make our discovery
that we have but one life to live into an ongoing recognition of God’s work
within us.” The Christian minister’s vocation is to
make it possible for us to face and celebrate our human situation.
We celebrate life when we become increasingly aware that
life is precious. We celebrate life when “We say with full
consciousness: We are, we are here, we are now, and let it be that way.” We
have to learn to live in the present.
Praying together is not worrying together, but becoming
present for each other in a very real way. What we ask of one another
is not, first of all, to solve a problem or give a hand, but to affirm each
other in the many different ways we experience life.
When this takes place, community starts to form and becomes a reality that can
be celebrated.
We celebrate life when we remember. People without a past
cannot celebrate the present and accept their lives as their own.
We were brought to where we are now by the innumerable people who lived their
lives before we were given the chance to live ours.
We celebrate life with expectations for the future.
Celebrating means the affirmation of the present, which becomes fully
possible only by remembering the past and expecting more to come in the future.
To help others learn to celebrate life when must first
learn to listen to them. “Those who are really able to listen to other
people
will be able to recognize their desire to celebrate as well as their fear of
celebrating.”
Conclusion
Ministry is the core of the Christian life. No Christian
is a Christian without being a minister … whatever form the Christian ministry
takes, the basis is always the same: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Why? To give new life (to a newly born child of God).
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