"Jesus doesn’t meet our needs, He rearranges them. He cares very little about most things that I assume are my needs and He gives me needs I never would have had if I hadn’t met Jesus. He reorders them.
I used to ask seminarians, “Why are you in seminary?” They’d say, “I like meeting people’s needs” and I’d say, “Whoa! Really? If you try that with people I know, they’ll eat you alive.”
Now, if you’re a pastor in Honduras, it might be ok to define your ministry as meeting needs because most people in Honduras have interesting Biblical needs—food, clothing, housing. But most people in the churches I know get these needs met without prayers so they’ve moved on to “needs” like orgasm, a satisfying career, an enjoyable love life, a positive outlook on life and stuff the Bible has absolutely no interest in."
Those are strong words, and words we all need to hear.
I used to ask seminarians, “Why are you in seminary?” They’d say, “I like meeting people’s needs” and I’d say, “Whoa! Really? If you try that with people I know, they’ll eat you alive.”
Now, if you’re a pastor in Honduras, it might be ok to define your ministry as meeting needs because most people in Honduras have interesting Biblical needs—food, clothing, housing. But most people in the churches I know get these needs met without prayers so they’ve moved on to “needs” like orgasm, a satisfying career, an enjoyable love life, a positive outlook on life and stuff the Bible has absolutely no interest in."
by William H. Wilmon, Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Those are strong words, and words we all need to hear.
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