It’s Sunday afternoon, we’re chilling with a movie, making the most of an empty house, relaxing ahead of another working week. We’re both a little subdued today after a difficult few days. The movie’s supposed to be a distraction, but it’s not really working, hence writing whilst watching.
Over last year or so, we’ve felt a little internal wound for every story of the fall of a pastor, whether in the UK or abroad. Even though we haven’t known any of them personally, each new revelation has left us feeling pain. I’m not saying that it’s anything like the pain that God is experiencing when his church is broken and brought into disrepute.
For the last few years, as many of you know, we’ve been trying to live out the Time2 vision by encouraging and supporting church leaders around the country. Which though it’s been difficult to do at times, due to also supporting Ruth parents, holding down jobs and dealing with life in general, we have still been able to speak words of life and hope into a number of different situations.
Unfortunately, this week, the pain got very personal. As I read a message on Thursday morning, I felt a sense of numbness come over me. In the pit of my stomach, I felt a deep sense of nausea followed by a very real pain in my heart. It was a message that I wasn’t expecting, and that just floored me. As I walked about 50 feet to meet Ruth, every step was a struggle. My brain was trying to process and make sense of what I’d just read. As I saw Ruth, I could see by the look on her face that she’d read the same message and was also struggling to comprehend what she’d read.
Our reaction was to reach out and to offer prayer and practical support and to be available to talk to those involved. For us, it felt like it was Time2 step up. We’re hurting, we’re grieving, but we want to show love and compassion to those who are hurting and need support. In the short time since, when we have time to stop and think, we’re left wondering if what we’re doing is actually making any kind of difference? When we’re doing Time2 part-time and often not even in person, are we just fooling ourselves? Are we just playing at supporting leaders?
As I said earlier, it’s got very personal and our choice is, do we sit and wallow in self pity and ask all the questions in the world about Time2, or do we say “not on my watch” and take a stand and be prepared to fight? To fight not only for those we know and love personally, but also for the countless ones we don’t know, the ones who are struggling to lead their churches for a myriad of reasons and who just need love, support, encouragement and a safe place to rest!
Maybe, we should be saying, to pinch a line from the story of Esther, that we, including Time2 “were born for such a time as this!”
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