Modus Operandi (MO):
1. A mode of operating or working; 2. One's usual way of doing something.
I've seen a growing trend in Christian circles in the last ten years or so. It is especially rampant among the 30- to 40-somethings, but I also see it in people entering their senior years. It's the idea that they're not doing/haven't done enough work for the kingdom of God; that there is so much more they should be doing to fulfill their purpose ... getting out there, making a mark, bringing in the sheaves. It's a kind of striving that undervalues their role as mothers or fathers, grandmothers or grandfathers, brothers and sisters, neighbours and friends.
Busy moms with busy children say, "I'm not doing enough for the kingdom."
Caring grownup children who visit their elderly parent every day say, "I'm not doing enough for the kingdom!"
How is raising the next generation of warriors not doing enough for the kingdom? How is spending time with a lonely elderly person not doing enough for the kingdom? Why is there this idea out there that if you're not shouting from a platform--literally and figuratively--you're not doing enough?
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands ... so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders. -- 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
"So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders."
Daily life is just so ... ... daily.
Yet, I was just going about my daily life when, out of the blue, my neighbour asked me to tell her about my faith. I hadn't been preaching or quoting scripture to her. I'd been minding my own business, living my life.
People notice our modus operandi, don't they? I would hope that my MO included a quiet assurance as I went about my day; that the faithfulness of my life, the inner peace, the joy, the gratitude--all this even in a troubled world--would be noticed.
It's not about striving to be a certain way or to do a certain thing. It's about Him working through us, in our neighbourhood, in our families, in our faithful writing.
Right where we are, with who we are, and what we've been given.
Yes, sometimes God asks us to do hard things, but getting out of our comfort zones to strive to do work for the kingdom does not signify a greater ministry than something like befriending a neighbour.
God gave you your gifts for a reason, and when conducted from a place of quiet confidence in the King of Kings, they are mighty.
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Photo from Pixabay
