Avoiding a Coronary Crisis

In my training years ago as a firefighter, I learned that saving a person in crisis is not always received with open arms.  A drowning man, for example, can be a dangerous man indeed.  Someone fearful of drowning can descend into a panic of flailing arms, that can bring down a well-meaning rescuer.  The irony is that this person in such profound need of help lashes out at their one source of hope.   

Years ago, a young couple began attending my church with great enthusiasm.  From an unchurched background, they dove into regular attendance and grateful enjoyment of fellowship.  Soon, however, the wife confided in me that her marriage was struggling.  I offered counsel and resources, a hand of rescue, but instead this hurting couple withdrew and isolated themselves; week after week went by with no sign of them in our fellowship.  Some time later, after several notes and overtures from me, she called to express how much she missed the church and remarked, “It’s strange how when we’re hurting, we pull away from the very things we need most.”  Indeed. 

Undoubtedly, those of us in ministry have seen this paradoxical dynamic repeatedly in individuals’ lives.  We reflect, anguish, and pray over those who turn down their source of greatest help.  We lament this reality of ministry and persist in God’s calling to reach out, knowing that apathy and resistance are the possible responses to our hands of care. 

But did you ever realize that we in ministry often display this same lamentable tendency we grieve about in others?  Having served as chairman of the Rocky Mountain District Board for over a year now, I have seen churches and pastors neglecting the very source of help they need most.  As a district, we are committed to proactive team play.  That is, we desire to provide encouragement, resources for training and equipping, and prayerful emotional support to our pastors and lay leaders in all eighty-seven churches in the district.  Sadly, however, a relatively small number of faithful churches seek this type of wellness input, until, well, until it is too late.  Until a crisis hits.  The heart-wrenching church conflict that tears the congregation apart; the emotional breakdown that leaves a good pastor lonely and disillusioned; the congregation left in the dark by an elder board unfamiliar with how to shepherd a congregational form of church decision-making.  And so many churches end up like the man needing a triple-bypass after years of neglect, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and refusal to see a doctor. 

In the midst of inevitable church crises, we as a district are eager to provide emergency care, prayer, and conflict intervention, but we grieve that a proactive involvement when all seemed healthy and well could have prevented the cardiac arrest.  Good nutrition of Healthy Church Networks, mutual support from other district churches, and training and equipping services in many cases could have possibly prevented the heart attack that threatens to destroy the health of a church. 

The mentality I want to encourage you to foster is one of team play with other churches in our district. For example, within our RMD board, we stress the need to minister as a spiritual team, deferring to and serving each other as we come alongside district churches.  This view stands opposed to the classic view of a board of directors concept as a bureaucratic decision-making entity that keeps its staff accountable to rigid job descriptions and expects the staff to do all the work as ‘hired guns,’ so to speak.  Team play as district churches means staying in touch with other pastors through monthly Healthy Church Networks and district conferences and supporting each other in good times and bad.  At our recent district conference, it thrilled my heart to hear pastors describe the on-going support and practical help they have received from Dr. Fell and Bruce Redmond in church leadership; guidance and opportunities from Mike Harrison in missions, hands-on support and advice from Julie Kurz in children’s ministry, and invaluable advice and assistance from Becky Harrison in bookkeeping.  One pastor described receiving a surprise $1,000 check from another district church right in their hour of greatest financial need. 

So please get involved in the wealth of opportunities the Rocky Mountain District provides for your growth as an individual, as a pastor, as a church.  Support the district financially and prayerfully. Build into your church priorities the broader vision of Rocky Mountain District team play.  You are never alone.  Don’t opt for isolation.  The input you give will be returned ten-fold, keeping you in a state of wellness that very well may avert a coronary disaster. 

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