Camping, Coffee, and Ministry

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I’m not much of a camper.  In fact I don’t like camping at all.  Putting up a tent?  I would have absolutely no idea how to do that.  It’s just not my “cup of tea,” if you will (or coffee, because I like that more).

Yet this is what the Apostle Paul did for a living.  While he traveled as a missionary, apostle, and evangelist, Paul would float back and forth between full-time ministry and part-time ministry; his other part-time job being tent-making [Acts 18:3].  I’m sure that Paul wasn’t upset whenever he had to make tents though; it opened new doors for him to talk about Jesus!

He never lost sight of the mission.

I’ve been thinking more and more about what it means to live “on mission.”  This is a term we have at Searchlight Church, and I love it, because it gives me a sense of why I do what I do, and helps me to prioritize in my life.  Our mission is to reach and teach people to live and love like Jesus.

Being newly married and working part-time in ministry and part-time at Starbucks, I’ve spent some time looking inward.  Other people my age are pursuing graduate degrees, while others I know who are married at my age own houses, work full-time ministry jobs or are getting ready to have kids!  Even at Starbucks, there have been opportunities to move up in the company, but instead I feel that I’m in this “middle-of-the-road” place.  It’s made me ponder: Why do I do what I do?

But I remember Paul’s job as a tent-maker.  And I remember Jesus’ words to his disciples:

“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39)

I’m at a point in my life where I’m “making tents” (or more specifically, lattes and frappiccinos), but I’m not losing sight of the mission: to reach and teach people to live and love like Jesus.

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