Looking Out

What can we do with Discontent? - an excerpt from an article by Rev Ben Gilmore.

Uniting Church Synod’s Future Directions Vision is:

To become a contemporary, courageous, growing church proclaiming Jesus Christ in worship, and witness in service.

One challenge that can emerge is that the individualist, can “other the vision” (“just doesn’t feel like us”) too quickly if we are not careful. This is because anything different, that doesn’t align with our own biases, can feel wrong and will often cause a sense of discontent. By deliberately naming this critical discontentment, to bring it into dialogue with the vision, and giving priority to the discerned vision, allows us to navigate the next steps well. This impulse is strong in all of us and is reflected in the view, “if only we could go back to what was, then it will be alright, we don’t need to change”. The call for transformation guided by discerned vision is much more challenging and quite frankly hard work.

I am aware that for some, including myself at times, letting unhealthy discontentment be the vision can be not only counterproductive but can cause damage and harm to the flourishing of God’s people and work. Now the Synod’s vision, like a Presbytery’s vision and a Congregation’s vision needs to be grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because it is Christ who we are disciples of participating in God’s Ministry and Mission.

In Exodus 3, God gives Moses a vision “Go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Moses expresses discontentment

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh  And bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

God deepens the commitment to Moses with practical next steps and commitments, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (NIV)

There are countless biblical examples of this vision casting of God, naming our discontentment, and discerning the next steps which led to transformation as a gift of God. Many of us may do this, but next time you are in a tricky spot with discontentment, bring discerned vision back in dialogue and creatively discern the next steps, as individuals, communities, councils, and committees. This is something we all can do with Discontentment.