I believe that many of you have been praying for the recruitment of a new TOL minister. As you all may know, it has become incredibly difficult to bring in a minister from outside our church these days. It has not been easy to raise a minister from within our church either. I have been hearing from here and there what kind of minister you all have been praying for. While some pray for this kind of minister, still others still seek a different kind with altering standards. If we collect the wishes of all our prayer requests, we would end up with a minister perfect for our church. However, the chances of finding and hiring such a minister with these qualifications are very slim.
Thus, when praying for the TOL minister, I think we should make a list of priorities by gathering our hearts together. As a minister myself, I think the most important quality of a minister is ‘spiritual vitality.’ Although this may be a fundamental quality, it is also an aspect so basic that it often tends to be overlooked. We could be inclined to ignore this quality because ‘spiritual vitality’ may not sound so concrete or cannot be physically seen. However, we cannot belittle its priority just because it is abstract, unseeable, or too basic. Instead, we should pray that we can confirm such ‘spiritual vitality’ so that we can be certain the next TOL minister holds this quality.
I would also like the TOL congregation to find things they could do right now instead of passively waiting for a minister to be found. There was a time in China when the Chinese communist party expelled ministers and imprisoned pastors in order to get rid of Christianity. The remaining Christians were only those who lacked learning and biblical knowledge. However, poor in spirit, they gathered together and prayed, sincerely loving each other.Thus, contradicting the Chinese communist party’s expectation that Christianity would perish, China experienced a revival of Christianity. Although the TOL is still in search of a minister, it has almost everything else it needs. The prosperity that the TOL now holds cannot be compared to house churches in China. What we are rather lacking is desperation and a hungry heart. Even without a minister, there are so many ways to realize and study God's words. I would like the TOL to try to get together, pray and praise, share the grace of God’s words, devote themselves to fellowship, and most importantly make an effort to love each other. I would like the TOL to “do the things they can do right now” and diligently wait.
When I and many other Church adults were teens, the people who understood our hearts the most were none other than church friends and older church brothers and sisters (hyung, noona, unnie, oppa). They were also the people who showed us the love of Jesus and dared us to challenge our faith. Instead of passively waiting for someone to come and solve our problems, I hope that you yourselves would pray to become that friend, brother, or sister (hyung, noona, unnie, oppa).
Following the shepherd…
Pastor Jiwon Choi