Once a month, I preach
through a translator at my small Cambodian church. Preaching in the US,
especially preaching in a seminary classroom, did little to prepare me for the
experience of preaching at a small church in a tucked-away corner of Phnom
Penh.
I have preached while a
thunderstorm raged outside the open window directly behind me. I was nearly
shouting so that even my translator could hear me, not to mention anybody in
the audience. I have been rushed by a toddler wildly waving a long stick. I’ve
preached while children yelled and babies cried. (In my last blog post, I wrote about how I am learning to embrace the hidden beauty underneath what, at first glance, seems to be chaos in the typical Cambodian church service).
Sometimes I even make a
joke that nobody laughs at. OK, fine, that’s happened to me in the US, too. My
experience amply prepared me for that one.
Preaching on a Sunday with another excellent translator, CBU President Nivath |
One Sunday morning, the
translator I had lined up informed me that he would be unavailable to translate
for me that afternoon. No problem, there are two other people who help
translate. I asked them, but by early afternoon I learned that neither could be
at the service. Now I was panicking. One of the church leaders told me to come
anyway and we would figure out what to do when I arrived (I hate waiting to
figure something out, by the way).
When I arrived, they
told me that Chumcheath would translate for me. I had not heard Chumcheath
speak English before, so I was a little worried that this would be difficult.
To make a long story short, Chumcheath did a terrific job. He was accurate and
animated. My sermon was in very capable hands.
I was very energized by
this experience. I had brought to light a problem (we needed a translator), and
then the church used its own assets to solve the problem (there was someone
very good at translating in the congregation who was not yet being tapped to
share his gift). I helped someone participate more fully in the edification of
the body of Christ.
That’s when the
revelation about church hit me. You see, Chumcheath didn’t get to edify the
church that day as a result of my stirring message or my inspiring actions or
friendship or any of the other assets I might think I have. Rather, I had a
need, and I felt helpless to fix it. When I brought that need to the church,
someone stepped up in a way they hadn’t been asked to before, and the church
has been stronger since then as a result.
I almost never attend
church in the US from a place of weakness. I know the language. I am
seminary-trained. I’ve served on church staffs. I usually have some kind of
formal or informal leadership. This is not bad, but there are things you simply
cannot learn unless you experience church from a place of powerlessness. Of
course, as a missionary and preacher at this church, I’m not exactly perceived
as powerless, but my lack of language and cultural understanding makes me feel
more helpless than I ever feel in the US, especially on this one day.
Churches need good
leadership, strong preaching, worshipful songs, etc. However, you can learn far
more about the health of a church by observing two things: how many people who
are weak, powerless or broken walk through the doors and what happens when they
do. Such people can either make the church worry about becoming too messy, or
they can unlock gifts that people never realized they had.
Today, I want to show my
respect for those who take the difficult step of coming to church because they
have hit rock bottom. If they don’t take the vulnerable step of coming to a
church that often criticizes them and feels uncomfortable around them, then the
church cannot live up to the fullness of its calling.
I came to Cambodia
because I thought I had gifts that could be of some use here. However, that
makes it easy to underestimate how much I can offer to the church by bringing
my weaknesses. I need to be more open to admitting my needs, my anxieties, my
pain. Not just for my sake, but for the sake of those who don’t yet know how
God has gifted them to rise to the occasions that my own weakness creates.
