THRIVING (OR “Sometimes Good Things Come from Notre Dame”)

Some people are failing at life.  Some people are surviving…they endure and survive.  But there are other people who thrive.  They’re the ones Jesus was talking about when he said, in John 10:10, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.”

Matt Bloom is on the faculty at the Mendoza College of Business.  He happens to be a United Methodist and is married to a gifted UM pastor named Kim.  Matt and his team have done a study of clergy here and across the country, and they have just issued a report they call Flourishing in Ministry.

When you look through the report what you find is an outline of what a life looks like when someone is thriving.

First, people who thrive have a sense of “meaning and purpose in life.”  They can tell you what they are all about.  They can describe their purpose and identify key life goals.

Second, thriving includes being able to “invest one’s best personal resources - talents, capabilities, energies, time, etc. - into the attainment of cherished goals, admirable pursuits.”  Another way of putting this is people not only can identify the purpose of their existence but feel they are able to spend their time, talent and energy “pursuing that meaning and purpose.”

Third, those who thrive “have a clear understanding of their knowledge, skills and abilities.  These people know their strengths and their weaknesses.  They don’t feel a need to be all things to all people, or to be strong at everything.  I would describe this as someone who leads with their strengths instead of tinkering with their weaknesses.

Finally, to thrive is to have a “sense of authenticity.”  These persons are able to “live in accordance with (their) true self.”  People who thrive are able to “think, act, and speak in ways that feel genuine and faithful to their true-self and (are) congruent with their deeply held values and beliefs.”   Another way of putting this is thriving people are comfortable in their own skin.  I love the veteran preacher, Fred Craddock, who is very comfortable with the fact that he is short, has a reedy little voice, and sounds like he belongs in the hills of eastern Tennessee.  That’s who he is and he doesn’t pretend to be someone else!

I believe Jesus calls us to be a community where people come to terms with their God-given purpose/mission in life.

I believe Jesus calls us to be a community where people are invited to invest their best energies and gifts in a great cause and for a great purpose.  (Remember this if you are asked to serve during the coming year on a ministry team as a participant or leader!)  We want people to serve in the areas  -and in the ways-  that matter the most to them. 

I believe Jesus wants us to be a community where people are free to turn their strengths loose and not try and lead with their weaknesses.  None of us can do it all, none of us are good at everything, and so God has put us together…our strengths complementing one another.

And, lastly, we are called to be a community where it is safe and good to be who God made you to be.  We encourage real, and we discourage pretending.  Someone I heard a few weeks ago in Chicago said we all have a need to belong, but the problem is that in too many churches and organizations you have to pretend to be like others to “fit in.”

Two questions for you.

First, are you failing, surviving or thriving?  If you’re failing or barely surviving, what needs to change and when will you and God begin a new chapter?

Second, are we the kind of community where people are helped to thrive?  If so, let’s keep on!  If not, help us become that kind of community!

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark