pat loughery

I’ve been taking my time going through the missional synchroblog posts, and summaries of those. One of the best summaries is here. There I found the link to Kingdom Grace’s post which had a nice little hammer in there. One of Grace’s points is:

With not For

As we walk together with others in their faith journey, we walk in mutual relationships, both giving of ourselves and receiving from them. When we share the love of God with others, we encounter Christ himself in their midst. The idea of mutuality is expressed by doing things With rather than For others. This necessitates that we take the time to know them. We develop relationships of commitment, to be with them in their journey rather than to simply show up for charity work.

Of all the synchroblog stories this week, this theme – with, not for – is the one I’ve been chewing on the most. Like a mantra, really. Pair that with Philippians 2; pair that with incarnation; pair that with Jesus’ “I will be with you, even to the end of the age”.

For implies separateness; with implies togetherness.

With identifies with others.

With hears the stories of others; for sees others as a target to aim for.

I see the professional clergy as a for structure. Is servant leadership the antidote, the with structure?

I’ve been thinking this week that the most dangerous thing on the planet for Christians to do – and we do this all the time – is to do something for God. But the most liberating (and at the same time uncomfortable) thing is to do something with God.

Bonus points: Here’s with, not for in a story from Sports Illustrated about a young Muslim woman who gives up her family’s wealth to serve refugee children in Georgia. It’s a deeply powerful story.