When We Can’t Be Honest, God Gets the Blame
Posted by C. Holland on Dec 05, 2008“God’s leading me in a new direction,” they’ll tell the congregation, but privately their admission to me will be, “I just couldn’t cope,” or “my family was so frustrated,” or even “the ministry wasn’t what I thought it was supposed to be.”
As a longtime Christian, I’ve been witness to many public explanations of why a leader or minister is either moving on to another (or moving out of) ministry. To be honest, they often smack of secular corporate memos that attempt to explain why a coworker is leaving: “Joan is exploring new career options, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavours.” Meanwhile, all the lackeys know that Joan was fired for ineptitude.
It’s become apparent that a good majority of the missionaries that I’ve watched leave the field easily fall into the categories of “this wasn’t what I thought it was” or “I didn’t fit in”. Fair enough. Missions ministry is not for everyone. And, hey, at least you tried, stepped out in faith, and probably learned a lot about yourself in the process. Leaving is not always a bad thing.
Please understand that I do believe God moves us in all circumstances, good or bad, so He should get partial credit. Romans 8:28 backs this up. However, we seem to stop short at some of the issues that were behind the move. It is often conveyed like a shrugged shoulder and complete bafflement as to why God is moving or what led up to the decision.
While specific reasons may not be appropriate to disclose, the missionary’s public attitude is summed up as, “Gee, I really wish I could stay with you wonderful people and keep serving, but for some reason God’s making me leave.” But privately they can’t wait to get on that plane, and this bears out when they refuse to maintain contact with those left behind in the mission field. It falls to those of us missionaries who remain to try to fumble with an answer to, “Why won’t Dave answer my emails now that he’s back home?”
We seem to be okay when our friends leave a secular career because that arena didn’t suit them or when someone moves to a new location because the last house wasn’t fulfilling their needs. Change in the general culture appears to be acceptable within reason.
But maybe in the Christian culture we need to be politely honest about what leads up to a change. I certainly think it would go a long way in exemplifying that people in ministry are human, don’t always get it right, and sometimes are only meant to serve somewhere for a season.
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