January 6, 2025

When I first felt God's call to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament, my answer was NO. No, no, no, no: a thousand times no.

At one point, I told God I would say YES to anything but that.

And so I did.

Polish the communion set? Yes!
Teach Sunday School? Yes!
Serve as a deacon? Yes!
Become an elder? Yes!
Play in the church orchestra for Christmas and Easter? Yes!
Make a hospital visit? Yes!
Paint a mural in the hallway? Yes!
Lead a community-built playground project for our church daycare? Yes!
Help an anxious bride repair the broken heel of her shoe an hour before her wedding? Yes!

YES. Yes, yes, yes, yes: a thousand times yes...until finally, I said the one YES I'd been running from for years.

My season of YES was good in lots of ways. I learned valuable lessons about church life, about God, and about myself.

Unfortunately, I also forgot how to say NO.

To be fair, NO has never been an easy word for me. Haunted (no joke!) by the "Parable of the Talents" (Matthew 25:14-30), I am driven (often to the point of exhaustion) to use the gifts and skills God has given me as often as I can.

I may mean well, but without discernment, the desire to "be a good steward" can get distorted into something unhealthy for me, for the church, and for the people around me.

Left unchecked, a constant "YES" can morph into a life built on works rather than faith--and that sort of life does NOT honor God, reflect God's desires for you, or serve others well. 

Just because I CAN doesn't mean I SHOULD. Even in ministry, sometimes saying NO is more faithful and God-honoring than saying YES.

While I'm confessing, I may as well admit that lots of times I don't say NO because I am afraid:

I have a hunch I'm not alone in any of this. If your YESSES are rooted in fear, spend some quality time in prayer with these words from the Apostle Paul:

"God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).

Dear Preacher,
There are a dozen perfectly "good" things you could say YES to today. May God grant you the wisdom and courage to say NO wisely--and to say YES in loving, faithful, discerning, and self-disciplined ways.

To God be the glory!
--Jen

A hand-made birthday gift from my sister Angie, who told me to hang it by my desk so that I--and everyone who visited my office--could see it. "If you can't say it," she advised, "just point!"

PS--If you still aren't convinced, here's one more voice encouraging you to say NO wisely so that you can say YES well...

The Louisa Woosley Preaching Initiative is a grant-funded program of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Our goal is to equip ministers and candidates for ministry to preach compelling sermons to today's diverse and often divided world. 

For more information about the initiative and our programs, visit our website.