Doing The Stuff That Matters

One of the great privileges of being in ministry is to have deep conversations with the people of our conference. Whether a zoom or phone call, or in an in-person conversation, each one, no matter how difficult or raw, is something I hold as precious. Thank you, friends, for welcoming me into your lives and sharing yourself with me.

This week, Rev. Joyce DeToni-Hill and I had the chance to catch up. She shared more about her passion as a spiritual guide for the Denver Front Range American Pilgrim Chapter. She has walked the Camino De Santiago several times and is looking forward to sharing this spiritual experience with others who wish to take this pilgrimage.

She said something that I have been pondering ever since we met. As people walk the Camino, they stay at hostels, monasteries, and other simple places that offer generous hospitality for rest and fellowship with other pilgrims. She told me about one monastery that offers overnight accommodations. It was a centuries old monastery: “What kept that monastery open since 900AD?” she asked. “They kept doing the stuff that matters.”

Having been a local church pastor for a couple of decades, that observation nags at me: do we keep doing the stuff that matters, or do we keep doing the stuff we’ve always been doing? Are we willing to keep up with the emerging needs and hungers in our community and fling open our doors and spill into the streets with ministries that address those things, or are we nostalgic for the glory days of a church of a bygone era?

Are we doing the stuff that matters?

To do the stuff that matters means we will probably have to stop doing some things that no longer matter. That is hard! It is not comfortable! It leads us to unknown situations! But isn’t this what Jesus asks of us when he said, “Come, follow me.”

I want all our churches to be vital spiritual centers in the communities they serve. My prayer is that in 900 years, someone will point to your church and say, “They kept doing the things that matter.”

Have a blessed Sunday!