Dr. Charles W. Ferguson

5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant[a] who was with him, “Come, let us go back, lest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us.” 6 But he said to him, “Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.” 7 Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” 8 The servant answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel[b] of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.” 9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today’s “prophet” was formerly called a seer.) 10 And Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.–I Samuel 9:5-9, ESV

A few years ago, I wrote my doctoral project on returning church leadership to a Biblical understanding. I was in a church context that was challenged with a past that had pastoral and lay leadership not holding the people in care. Individuals told me that they experience moments of embarrassment when private matters were made public. Furthermore, individuals did not feel safe in address real issues in a place/institution that is supposed to be inherently a safe space.

When leadership proves to be toxic, it is a difficult proposition to assist someone through the ebb and flow of life’s journey. People have a difficult time trusting that leaders are capable of handling the real challenges that are before individuals on a daily basis. That reason was the prompt for the subject matter of my project.

Now, I find myself in the midst of people attempting to articulate their faith in the midst of trying times. When I speak of trying times, I am really addressing the demon of indifference to the human condition. The same one that has constantly found methods of separation, platform establishment, and selective piety. This moment in time has caused me to examine myself and consider my place as a pastor and leader.

For many years, I have wrestled with the thought of extremism in the Christian faith. Life, seminary, personal study, and experiences have pulled out of me the truest form of who and what I am as a person. I realize that living and attempting to follow the example of Christ is the most radical thing that a person can do. But it is not for the reasons that many might think.

Being a follower of Christ, a true observer of God requires much more than a surface idea of the Biblical text. We must be in tune with God to such an extent that we accept the thought that we might not know everything. Furthermore, we must possess the mental, emotional, and spiritual dexterity necessary to understand that people arrive at very different experiences with God. Greater still, the arguments for what people call foundational/traditional must pass the God test every time.

What I am saying is that we must be prepared to give real answers in a real world about a real God is sits higher than us. Yet, that concept is not taking place. People are lost. People are frustrated. People are functioning to be on the winning side. People are willing to do harm to others to prove that God does not want them.

We are in need more than ever of having Samuel like leaders. What do I mean? We need leaders that possess shepherd qualities with prophetic edge. We need people that are not looking only in the scope today’s benefit. We need people that can see the larger picture that reaches everyone on every level.

When Saul was lost chasing his father’s donkeys, he and his servant were in need of finding someone to help them get back on track going towards their home. When asking for a seer (another name for prophet), a person told them about Samuel. The recommendation was associated with a guarantee. Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true. The indication is that Samuel was not only in sync with God, but was able to navigate the challenges of the moment.

I do not care what the issues might be (human sexuality, race, gender, etc). We are in a season that requires more than people fighting for their specific corner of their world. We must finally accept that God is much bigger than our thoughts and understanding. We must accept that at best we are attempting to navigate imperfect people toward the best way to love God and others. We must accept that we can not limit God’s reach in matters of faith formation and direction.

I was not always vocal in this manner. I arrived at this place not because of the current debates regarding human sexuality and leadership in the life of the church. I came to this place when I finally saw God differently and recognized that Christ looks more like me. In other words, I was finally liberated to experience the God that loves me through the lens of my challenges, difficulties, uniqueness, and experienced bias.

I understand more than ever that it was necessary to have people in my life with the heart of a shepherd to aide me through facing my emotional health through more than laying on of hands. I needed prophetic voices to remind me to challenge the notion that white supremacist created image of Jesus was not my Christ. I was called to challenge the notion that we are to be divine bouncers when Christ has called us to draw unto Him.

Dr. E. Dewey Smith said many things from a sermon from almost three years ago that still resonates in my soul. However, this statement changed my approach to ministry and people. You can not evangelize and antagonize at the same time. For my personal walk, I am called to not to judge what I see. I am called to present the full counsel of the Savior I love and serve. Furthermore, God has not deputized me to keep anyone away for the genuine encounter of God’s presence and love.

We are not to pick and choose how people get the opportunity to experience radical change within their soul and spirit. We definitely don’t get to pick and choose what is sinful and what can be tolerated. We definitely can not speak for a larger body who longs to share the beauty of the relationship with God.

If we take on the challenge of becoming like Samuel, we will be asking God for certain tools to aid us.

1. Vision:  We must have to ability to see what is to come. Samuel was shown before Saul arrived that he would have to anoint Saul as the new king of Israel. God revealed that Samuel had to be prepared for the one to come, not how that one would come. We must see that our ability to see what God sees allows us to remove the guess work in how to operate for the Kingdom of God.
2. Relationship: Samuel was in tune with God from childhood. Samuel knew the voice of God from his initial calling as a child as a priest intern. Samuel cultivated that relationship with God to the extent that he was able to move when God wanted to move. Nothing God said was accidental. Nothing Samuel did was without purpose.
3. Spirit-Led: We must be prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to guide how we execute the Will of God in the Earth. God will allow us to gain all the information possible to understand as much as our minds can conceive in that moment. Yet, we still need the Spirit to activate every gift of grace that rest within us to usher the proper environment for elevation in experiencing God.

When you are a Samuel, a payoff comes. Samuel met Saul and revealed to him that he was chosen to be king of Israel. Saul could not believe what was happening, but the destiny was set in motion by God. Samuel would walk with Saul as the future king would experience and witness the affirmation of his call.

When we trust God with what has been given to us, we can walk out the necessary elements of comfort and truth to power. We must rise to in both veins (priest and prophet) in this season of life. Otherwise, we will have a future of wanderers seeking a voice. They will be like sheep without a shepherd. A people without love or hope. I refuse to face that judgment for a temporary platform.

30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”–Luke 10:30-37

The most difficult part of having a nonstop, thought producing brain is reading what people say in all forms of communication. I promise you that I don’t go looking for material when it comes to writing outside of sermons, lectures, and book projects. It seems to me that nonsense comes to my doorstep.

I am like any reasonable human being. I enjoy absolute silliness. I like to laugh. Crying is a necessary release. What I don’t like is people using platforms to spout off their brand of truth knowing full well it is a bunch of foolishness. Furthermore, it is an insult to the intelligence and decency of people to bombard our minds with the most trivial forms of ignorance.

The one common thread that I see in many posts and interactions is the invoking of the presence and person of God in every discussion. Politics, religious practices, personal theologies, eating habits, everything–God is being subject to false claims of advocating for every single perspective. Don’t you know that it is wrong to make a claim on behalf of an unwilling party?

At the core of everything that I am seeing, one telling truth continues to come to the surface. People have left their humanity at the door. I am constantly struck by how easy it is for people to completely forget that we are human beings. We are individuals that are constantly challenged to address our emotions, thoughts, and perspectives. We are beings that are supposed to have the capacity to deal with issues in a civilized manner.

Beyond that, I am finding more people who claim discipleship of Jesus Christ losing their grip on the principles and foundation of what Christ taught. Imagine reading or listening to people who walk with Jesus constantly berate the humanity of any person based solely on the labels they carry. That doesn’t make sense. Consider that the same people are attempting to hold people in the midst of shame that was never generated by the message of Christ. Imagine your skin being weaponized, your sexuality assulted, your reproductive rights judged, authority chosen over your innocence in the name of a perpetuating an idea that has no rooting in the love of God.

Sadly, you don’t have to imagine it….

Jesus was asked once about the issue of a neighbor. Imagine that. We need a definition for a neighbor. This gentleman got the answer about how to gain eternal life, but still wanted to make sure that his living on earth was tight. So Jesus did Jesus things. He used a story.

The story of the Good Samaritan addresses the response of the individual from a group of people historically maligned by others (i.e. nobody walked through the land of half-breed Jews because they did not see them as Jews; sound familiar) taking care of a hurting broken person passed over by religious elite (priest and levite). The emphasis is that whoever is in need, condition that can be aided, or in physical proximity is your neighbor.

What the Samaritan did and what Jesus commands us to do is act according to what is right and not our own preference. Right. Preference. If I had $20 million in the bank, I would prefer to travel without any cares. Yet, I have bills to pay. The right thing is paying my bills. I have differing views on how that government is run, so I may not want to be in the room with others who don’t think like me. But if I want to make change, I need to find common ground and work to make a better day.

Doing the right thing seems so overrated. People are willing to engage in the suffering of others to obtain what benefits their personal existence. People are ready to substitute serving God truly for temporary benefit. All of this rejection and self-serving attitude reigns due to the desensitized nature of the current climate. I can’t continue to live or function in a world that will constantly dismiss one another.

More than ever, we need people who will produce the energy and resources necessary to be the physical hands and feet of Christ. We have seen and witnessed enough people with the energy to pass over and around people. That take no type of work. How many of us will take the time to help someone with no restrictions, label, or issues as the deterient? How many of us will make up are mind to live and love like Jesus and address people at their root humanity?

Which of you, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the person who fell among the troubled climate? Will you say, I am the one showed mercy? If so, continue.

6 He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.And he went about among the villages teaching.7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.[a] 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. –Mark 6:1-13, ESV

It is one of the greatest challenges of life–change. Change provides so many opportunities to experience a wide range of emotions. It is without a doubt the most difficult set of circumstances to navigate in life. Depending on the situation, change provides excitement for a future without limits. Change can also be a strong reminder that old things are gone.

This week, I am personally experiencing multiple levels of change at one time. I am beginning a second appointment to pastor a local congregation in the city of Columbus–Clair United Methodist Church. On some levels, it was a shock and welcomed opportunity presented by the West Ohio Conference under the leadership of Bishop Gregory Palmer. I am forever grateful for the chance to use my gifts and calling.

However, I have found myself dealing with the unnerving emotions of my own inadequacies. I am to meet the membership of Clair today. I would be less the authentic, real, and honest if I did state that I began feeling nervous. Nervous about my call? No. Nervous about my gifting and skill? No. Nervous about being received? 100% Yes!

I still feel the sting of my past experiences. Wesley Church of Hope has been such a blessing to me and my family in our healing process. Nobody has pressed about anything outrageous. They have allowed me to be husband and father first. That order has made me a better pastor. They have given me support that I didn’t see coming. These past six months have been the easiest time of pastoring I have ever experienced. Along with that, I have been able to just be me.

So why be nervous now? I finally came to a conclusion. I still have dust. Go with me for a moment.

I know that I am growing in grace day by day. It is evident even when I feel like I am going nowhere. I realize that God is still granting new mercies. I know that I am not the same person I was. Yet, I feel the sting of the past days of not being accepted for who I am truly. (I know I just wrote about validation from God in the last post.)

The truth is that I just arrived at the place to be good with myself. No point in lying. I am finally alright with being a nerd at heart. I appreciate being more vocal with my pen or keyboard than my voice. I like that I am a big man with a soft heart. I am cool being petty (Fun, comical petty not petty petty). I have value and worth to the world.

Nevertheless, I realize that I have not always kicked the dust off of my past experiences or roads traveled. I still feel the sting of people thinking my leadership or vision was beneath them. I get angry at the thought of being made to think that I am less than in anyway. I feel that twinge when I hear limitations in their voice. I am reminded of every superficial comment hurled in my direction. It still bring heat to my soul.

Then God impressed the text above on my spirit. I was reminded that Jesus was not accepted everywhere including his hometown. That comforted me some, but it did not change my approach to my own feelings. It is when Jesus taught a simple thing about moving forward that my soul finally got peace.

Jesus told the disciples that they had a mission. This mission would provide the opportunity to change people and environments. The mission would save, heal, and equip. The mission was not about being monetized or anything else. The mission was to advance a promote a Kingdom not of this world within this world.

The mission was so great that Jesus gave a simple mandate to stay focused. If people welcome you/embrace you, you stick around. If you are not welcomed or embraced, don’t waste time proving you belong. Dust your feet and keep moving. When you do that, your moving forward will indict their unwillingness to embrace you (gift, peace, etc).

We can become prisoners of everything that comes our way. We can be imprisoned by opinions, problems, and issues so much that we miss out on being productive and useful in our purpose and mission. I am a living witness of that. We become so consumed with trying to prove to people that we belong in this space that we do not realize that rejection might be the gateway to greater opportunity.

I was not accepted in my “home” (Baptist church). I tried to prove my worth and value to people that did not deserve the time. It took two years to come back to the realization that God called me to Kingdom work not a denomination. God called me to be present and a voice, not to be a doormat or an option. God did not call you to just be a person. God called you to greater. The moment you realize that, you will stop attempting to defend who and what you are to condition unfit to embrace it.

This post is not about arrogance and ego. It is about reminding you that God fools with you. (S/O to my boy Derrick–www.revderrickholmes.com) God wants you and I to remember that we have not be given so much to allow it to be subjected strictly by the opinions of others. We are called to be progressive in thought, process, speech, and actions. The season for worry is over. The new season of opportunity has come.