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\u201cThe Bible doesn\u2019t say much about excellence,\u201d Willimon noted. \u201cIt\u2019s more of a question of \u201chow do you keep on keeping on?\u201d<\/p>\nBy Don Meyer<\/p>\n
DENVER, CO (February 6, 2007) \u2013 With a generous mixture of humor and an almost folksy interpretation of scripture, Dr. William Willimon admonished the hundreds of pastors attending the 2007 Evangelical Covenant Church Midwinter Pastors Conference to remember that \u201csustaining ministry is not your problem \u2013 that\u2019s God\u2019s problem. It\u2019s too tough to do by yourself.\u201d
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\nWillimon was the speaker for the opening worship service of this year\u2019s conference: \u201cSustaining Pastoral Excellence: Pastoral Competence and Congregational Vitality.\u201d A noted speaker and author of more than 60 books, Willimon is the bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bible doesn\u2019t say much about excellence,\u201d Willimon noted. \u201cIt\u2019s more of a question of \u201chow do you keep on keeping on?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMinistry is peculiarly demanding,\u201d the speaker continued, suggesting that many in the room may have come to the conference searching for a new ministry technique, or perhaps a new program they can introduce in their own congregations. \u201cThe Kingdom of God is too demanding to be encapsulated by a technique or a program,\u201d he declared. \u201cYou need a living God to do what you\u2019re called to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Willimon used the Nicodemus story in the book of John as a focal point in his message, incorporating the call of Jesus to \u201cbe born from above\u201d as a recurring theme throughout his remarks.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a member of the high council,\u201d Willimon said in reference to Nicodemus. \u201cHe\u2019s a believer \u2013 but also a teacher of believers. He is a ruler in the synagogue.\u201d Willimon went to some length in describing him as a learned man, one in the highest levels of religious leadership. And it is to this man that Jesus says, \u201cYou must be born from above.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn all the New Testament, this is the only time Jesus tells anybody you must be born from above,\u201d Willimon noted. \u201cAnd the person is a theologically trained religious professional. How can it be?\u201d<\/p>\n
The speaker made a point of noting that Nicodemus was a trained religious professional, suggesting to his audience that perhaps today\u2019s clergy also may need to be \u201creborn – redone, top to bottom,\u201d spiritually speaking.<\/p>\n
Willimon also wove into his message the image of wind \u2013 the spirit of God, like the wind, blowing where it chooses to blow. A problem for many of today\u2019s religious professionals, he suggests, is that they (like Nicodemus) think they have scripture \u2013 and God \u2013 all figured out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe longer you\u2019re in this work (ministry), you do figure out a lot of the texts \u2013 you \u2018stabilize\u2019 the living God,\u201d Willimon contends. \u201cAnd then the wind of the spirit blows in and knocks you down,\u201d much as it did when Jesus declared to Nicodemus, \u201cyou\u2019ve got to become as a little child to enter this kingdom.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most sustaining things we have in ministry is this living God, who equips those who he calls,\u201d Willimon continued. \u201cHe is a constant breeze, blowing you into areas you didn\u2019t know you would be called to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
The speaker decried many ministries he describes as dead and boring. \u201cWe have a God who we have cut down to our own size,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need a Katrina to come through and shake things up. Part of the fun of ministry is working with this uncontainable God.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe wind will blow where it will,\u201d he said in conclusion. \u201cThank God ministry is not something we have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n