A personal reflection on the risks of ministry
September 13, 2004
Loren and Tanya Gardner lead our ministry to unwed mothers.
As my family embarks on this historic event, I wonder about many things….that our work here will be a work that has an end – that we impact the community so powerfully that the gates of hell won’t prevail and that we actually push them back…that a church that is indigenous to the street kid culture will be birthed….that the babies of these girls will grow up feeling and believing that they are loved and cared for….that where they have come from is not where they must go but that they can do all things!
In the initial stages of brainstorming about what we wanted to do, my mind often wandered to a couple of paintings whose images are forever in my head. Oddly, enough, the images are so different yet speak so clearly to the ministry we want to build.
The first is Abraham and Isaac (scroll to WORKS and click on 1984-1991). Abraham, in faith and trust, has tied his only son up as a preparation to sacrifice him. He knows and is confident that God will raise up from the dead the gift that he gave Abraham and Sarah. His hand has risen with a sharp blade only to have his hand stayed at the last possible moment by an angel of God. Not only that, but the ram, that was truly meant for the sacrifice has been provided. This painting has made me wonder if I am truly counting the cost of this sacrifice. Some of my family reminds me, often, about how dangerous what we are doing could be. We will be dealing with drug/alcohol addicts, prostitutes and girls who are just addicted to the streets. So as I wonder, I think, am I raising the knife to my own family just like Abraham did to his son? How much do I trust God to provide? How could Abraham trust so much and not be paralyzed by fear? I remember a meeting that Tanya and I had with our senior pastors, Jim and Betty Herrington, before we decided to move to Montrose. I remember us telling them of our concerns about moving to a dangerous part of town and what that would mean for our children? They told us how they decided to sacrifice everything. They said, “If we don’t, how safe will the world be in 20 years when your children and our grandchildren are grown?” The answer was clear…if we don’t do something now, the world will not be a better place to live, but a worse place.
The second painting brings a little balance to the risks above. It is a painting of The Good Samaritan (scroll to WORKS and click on 1995-1999). On the side of the road, a man cares for someone who has been beaten and robbed and left for dead. Quietly, a man passes by hoping not to be noticed. He is a religious man. Throughout my Christian walk, I have found myself in each of these three individuals. The Herrington’s and Harbor as a whole have forced me out of my comfort zone. Loving the unlovable and helping those who have found themselves helpless is sometimes a real difficult thing. But who knows what goes on in people’s lives that causes them to act the way they do? The Good Samaritan reminds me of how dangerous it is to think that I am too good (or afraid) to help. The artist really brought clarity to the face of the religious man as he is walking away. This clarity makes me think that I know this man more than the others on the work. That familiarity makes me angry with myself because of how I avoid helping people sometimes.
Jesus was clear about all he did. And one of the things he did was to seek out the lost, dying, the hurting, and the disenfranchised. There are so many people in the America today who are in need. For the street kids, the American Dream is dealing drugs, prostitution, sleeping on the streets, loneliness and the list goes on. They are young people who need to know that they are loved and that someone cares about them because right now, they are just being preyed upon and used in our consumer culture. I want to be that Samaritan that is willing to stop, to see a need and fill it…and even attempt to fill it with over-flowing.