Pedal Faster, Gilligan, Part 3

Continued from yesterday...

What else can we learn about ministry from this passage?  God calls us to a Christ-like vulnerability.  The 70 Jesus sends go out with practically nothing.  They are not armed, even though Jesus tells them they go out like lambs to face wolves.  I don’t know about you, but if I’m going out to face a wolf, I don’t want to be vulnerable.  They don’t take food or money.  They don’t make hotel reservations.  I always make hotel reservations.  They are told not to take a purse, so they can’t accumulate money as they travel.

Truthfully, it’s just not the way I would choose to travel.

This vulnerability means that they must depend on the people they visit for food, for shelter, for hospitality.  They have to depend on each other.  They, most of all, have to depend on God, who will supply what they need to accomplish their mission.

As Steve’s bike team traveled across two states, they mainly stayed in United Methodist Churches that would host them for the night.  When a church would volunteer to feed them, they accepted, gratefully.  That might mean someone coming down to the church in the morning to fix them breakfast or the church having pizza delivered to them in the evening.  Otherwise, they would all load up in their two vehicles and drive to a nearby restaurant for dinner or bike to breakfast the next morning.  Showers were in people’s homes, the nearby fire department, the YMCA, or, for one evening, at the nearby pool, where there was only cold water.   When they needed bike parts, they shared what they had or they called for help.  They changed tires, tightened spokes, adjusted seats, fixed flats.  They worked together as a team to get everyone from the beginning, near the Ohio River, to the end, at the Vietnam Memorial.

As the Body of Christ, are we willing to depend on each other?  Will we be vulnerable, as Christ was vulnerable?  Will we risk failure?  When we reach out to tell others about Christ, will we risk dismissal?  Are we willing to give up control, to rely solely on God?  Will we offer peace in places where we would rather respond with anything except peace?  Will we be Christ-like in a world that might completely reject us?

Pick up your bicycle, Gilligan, it’s all you get to take with you, and pedal.

Continued tomorrow...