I shall give you a few examples of anxious systems:

Congress. NFL owners. Schools. Churches. Yes, churches. My Pastoral Care professor at seminary described any seemingly friendly, local Lutheran congregation as an anxious system. This was NOT something that this aspiring, long-expecting pastor-to-be needed or wanted to hear! Church is the place we’re supposed to feel happy and comfortable; anything BUT anxious! But consider family structures. Over the course of their life span, there is bound to be conflict and tension.

Anxiety defined is “the emotional response to a fear that doesn’t submit to ready solutions.” Any family – church or biological – faces big stressors that can make the ties stronger or break them apart. We feed off each other and react. Church leaders do well when they are able to be calm, and arrive at an antidote for congregational anxiety. And of course, humor is the salve that makes the “owie” go away, or at least disarms it for the time being. When we consider all of the trivial things members might get in a huff about, why not laugh? We must be careful though, not to give in to sarcasm. That’s going too far.

God said to Moses in the wilderness, “my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14). “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7).

In our systems, that from time to time get a little anxious, remember that God loves YOU unconditionally.

Pastor Art