When Knowledge Gets in the Way

Usually the way knowledge stands in the way of effective ministry is
when a person thinks they know so much that they can depend on their
human knowledge and not on God to get something done. While I've
certainly been guilty of this before, I feel like lately the way
knowledge has been getting in the way of effective ministry for me is
that I think I know so little.

Let me explain. For a long time, my ministry has been in the field of
urban economic development. Early on, I learned about God's concern
for cities and about godly ways to use business and economics to
actualize those concerns. The more I learned about the business and
economic side of things, the more equipped I felt to do effective
ministry.

But now it seems the more I learn about how business and economics
work in the city, the more ill-equipped I feel. For I understand just
how complex are the systems, the structures, and the solutions. Where
once I felt optimistic about urban Christians like me making a
difference in areas like education and homelessness and jobs and
neighborhoods, now I know more clearly just how hard it is, from an
economic and political and organizational standpoint, to make even
minor dents in these problems.

I'm not quite ready to concede that these are all moral issues, that
what we really need to do is to pray for hearts and fight for souls
and work towards better relationships and healthier behaviors. I want
to believe that, as important as that dimension is, there is still a
role to play for those of us who are trained in and energized by the
more secular disciplines, like business and government and law and
administration.

But I know, better now than I did before, just how hard it is to make
a difference for the Kingdom of God in these fields. May God grant
me, with this greater understanding of our problems, a greater
understanding of His solutions.