After my first blog post today I had a conversation with a couple coworkers. It wasn't a life-changing conversation. It just made me think. And it was about our jobs. Which is fitting with my last post.
The subject of how we are "professionals" came up. It was weird....like none of us wanted to admit that we're professionals. But we are. We get paid to do what we do. So, by definition, we are professionals. I am a professional musician. Weird. They are professional ministers of the Gospel. Weird. And I worded that weird. :-)
Why is it so weird? If we were in any other business we would definitely consider ourselves professionals. All three of us have college degrees in our field. If we were teachers, doctors, businessmen, or anything else, we would say we're professionals. So then why is it so weird that we say we're professionals when we work at a church? What is it about ministry that doesn't seem "professional?"
After our conversation, I thought about it some more, and I think I came up with a reason. It's because we are continually learning. Personally, spiritually, professionally, we are continually in process. The word "professional" implies that we are experts, or at least competent in our field. But we are forever students, trying to get to know our Teacher. That is a huge part of our job.
Do people in other careers have continual growth? Absolutely. However, in our line of work, what affects us spiritually will also affect us professionally. It has to, if we are being authentic. It's why we do what we do. We wouldn't even be in ministry in the first place if that wasn't true. So it's hard to feel professional when we know we're just scratching the surface of who God is.
We will probably be professional "God-knowers" when we get to heaven. Seems like that's the only time we'll be an expert on the subject. So until then, you can call me a professional by definition. But as long as I'm here, I will always be a student.
No comments:
Post a Comment