That’s YOU! Somewhere along your way to being a partner in Christ’s church, you said that’s who you would be.
For example, in the UCC Book of Worship, the pastor invites persons to profess Jesus Christ, and then seeks a promise to “be Christ’s disciple, to follow in the way of our Savior, to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ as best you are able.”
We are pro-fession-als.
I looked up the words. First definition of a professional is one characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession; who follows a line of conduct as though it were a profession.
What about pro-active? “Tending to initiate change rather than reacting to events.”
That got my attention. I started to write an article about the coarseness, crudeness, and unconcern for the common good which mark our days; rising violence and mayhem; the renaissance of crass racism; and, the practice of blurting out raunch and rants under the supposed anonymity of social media tools, and about how we look down at screens so often rather than looking up at one another face-to-face in order to maintain relationships, seek and enrich diversity, and create opportunities to be constructive rather than destructive.
So instead, here is a call to us Christians, we United Church of Christ partners, to be the PROACTIVE PROFESSIONALS God needs. Dig into the sacred texts, discover what they mean as well as what they say, then stand up, speak out, and seek policies, procedures, and behaviors to reveal how to love God by loving what and whom God loves.
When a lawyer challenged Jesus to name THE greatest commandment, Jesus said that there are two which are like one another: love God with all you got; and love your neighbor like you love yourself, because everything hangs on these two.
So by study, prayer, worship, discernment, and deeds we the people of Christs’ church are called on to profess these values, and match that profession with proactivity. There are awesome examples and models all around us, and thank God for them!
There is an enormous need for more persons who profess – i.e. professionals – that the Jesus way will be our way, too, and who will take action – i.e. be proactive – to initiate change and remedies rather than just reacting to events.
Ready to take next steps in your career as a proactive professional? Try these ideas from the Ohio Council of Churches newsletter:
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1110212831443&ca=b6c36686-f8fa-450e-b126-a05c1b32de8a
I love how Fred Kaan put it: “For the healing of the nations, God, we pray with one accord; for a just and equal sharing of the things that earth affords; to a life of love in action help us rise and pledge our word……You, Creator God, have written your great name on humankind; for our growing in your likeness bring the life of Christ to mind, that by our response and service earth its destiny may find.” *
God bless you, Proactive Professionals. Shalom
John Gantt
Interim Conference Minister
*From The New Century Hymnal, copyright © 1995 The Pilgrim Press. Permission granted for one time use.