One of the significant challenges I faced this last teaching season had not so much to do with a blistering ministry schedule or an apologetic that suffered serious refutation, but with a seven-week “Mormonism in the Light of Biblical Scripture” (MLBS) class I taught in Mud Lake, Idaho. Allow me to explain.
To begin with Mud Lake is a 45-minute drive from where I reside in Idaho Falls. And even though my Grandma was gracious enough to lend me her fuel efficient Toyota Rav 4 for the weekly trip, the gas gauge still registered a quarter of a tank less by the time I returned home. Gas had not yet hit the dreaded $4 per gallon mark, but it didn’t have to for my already-tight budget to feel the squeeze.
Speaking of squeezes, STS offers a variety of classes and MLBS is the most comprehensive of them all. This means that unless the church at which we teach has a copy machine that’s up to the task of hundreds of double-sided copies, the local Office Max gets the job and my money as it did this go ’round.
Mud Lake, as you might guess, does not even qualify as a “one-light town” simply because there are none! In fact, the time it takes to unwrap a piece of gum and pop it into your mouth is long enough to miss the highway-side Community Church of Mud Lake if not the entire town of Mud Lake. And with a population of about 270, the vast majority being of the LDS ilk, the local Protestant church scrapes to fill a handful of pews. Suffice it to say, the crowd to which I taught was small and the church, understandably, didn’t have the means to reimburse me the way they wished they could have.
I write this not to boast in my sacrificial service, but as a challenge to all followers of Christ to daringly ask ourselves: Why are we serving where and whom we are serving? Each week as I diligently prepared for and taught MLBS in Mud Lake I had to ask myself these same soul-searching questions. As a result I came to the realization that although God doesn’t always call us to serve in less-than-desirable circumstances, we are inclined to mute the signal with our own artifact when He does. I thank the LORD and the brethren at Community Church of Mud Lake for keeping me mindful of my motives for ministry!
Charis kai eirene, (Grace and peace), Mike
