Not perfect by any stretch. But by and large I have been able to be a “non-anxious” presence in people’s lives when they are faced with issues around grief, marriage, addiction, trauma, and even assault.
There are some seasons, in fact, when it seems like the only time I meet with people is when they are going through a crisis.
Yet I am realizing that for our church to make the kind of quantum leaps in discipleship that I so long for, I will want to devote more time to people who are in consistency mode.
By that I mean people who have no particular trauma going on other than they need someone to show them the next steps in their living relationship with Jesus Christ. Which moves me away from the role of counselor and into the role of discipler. Out of pastoring and into leading.
It’s why I’ve got two guys I meet with one-on-one, studying the book of Romans together on the one hand and the Apostles’ Creed together on the other. It’s why I’m going to be meeting with a teen later in August to read through Not A Fan together.
It’s why the most important thing I can do here these days is to help our team recruit, select, train, equip and lead new LifeGroup leaders. So that they can be the de facto disciplers for the rest of the people in the church.
Who knows?
Perhaps as people at Good Shepherd become more consistent they will have fewer crises.