1More Skill - Faith After The Fall

Pastoring, Post-Collapse

[*caveat: I am a Christian, but I believe this information can be useful to those from any number of backgrounds or beliefs. The bottom line: put others before yourself.]

Like most preppers, I hope for the best while preparing for the worst. However, I operate with the sick feeling inside that the ‘worst’ is inevitable. So while honing my gardening and rifleman skills, I began to wonder what these activities would look like after the ‘worst’ happens. And being a pastor, I wondered what my pastoral role would look like in a post-collapse situation. Would there still be a church? Would it matter? Upon praying and researching these questions I came upon a simple, yet startling, revelation: we are all ministers, and the role of ministry may be the most overlooked prep in the life of the survivalist.


We are all pastors, and the bible says so. [1 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 3:10-12] So what is the job description of a pastor? Well, the bible tells us that, too. Strengthen the weak. Heal the sick. Bind the wounded. [Ezekiel 34:4] Now, some are called and gifted in ministry in different ways and at different levels, so I’m not disavowing the usefulness of a ‘proper’ education for these callings, but I think many believers sell themselves short when it comes to their role in ministry. God can use you powerfully (yes, YOU) right where you are.


The Need For Pastoral Care

In researching the role of a pastor in a worst-case scenario, I interviewed someone who had lived through one. I called my friend who just returned from a forward operating base in Afghanistan where he served as a combat engineer and asked what peoples’ greatest emotional, mental and spiritual needs are in such a situation. I asked how one could prepare to pastor those needs before the needs arise. He surprised me with his answers.

“It’s nothing you can prepare for. I trained for years and was still completely unprepared for the first five minutes of combat. When you first realize that someone is trying to kill you it’s just utter disbelief. You either get mad and shoot back, or you crumble. My commanding officer, who I had great respect for, dove under cover, curled into the fetal position and cried. You can’t prepare for stuff like that.”

“Then how DO you deal with it?” I asked.

“God will give you what you need when you need it, and you either receive it or you don’t.”

“So is the role of a pastor even needed in situations like that, or are we just all flying on instinct?”

“Because of what I went though over there, because of things like PTSD, I’m on more anti-psychotics than you can shake a stick at. If things really go south, people like me are going to need people like you to keep us sane.”

One of my main roles as a pastor has been helping people deal with stress and mental trauma. I refer people to specialized psychological care when appropriate, but in the worst-case scenario YOU may be IT. My friend brought up several good points that I’d like to condense for the ease of your applying them to your preparation philosophy:

1) You cannot prepare for the mental/emotional trauma of such extreme situations.

2) God WILL give you what you need when you need it, if you are open to it.

3) Medications will not always be available to maintain mental stability, and an alternative will be necessary.

While we may not be able to anticipate the shock of what may come, we can still prepare to care for people during and after a crisis. After all, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, but that doesn’t mean you don’t plan. For example, the simple sudden lack of anti-depressants/anti-psychotics alone would necessitate the presence of a caring pastor or counselor. Add to that the fractured reality of people trying to kill you and you can imagine what an important prep this is, and one that is NOT on most of our lists. So, what are the nuts and bolts of BEING a pastor, especially in a post-collapse situation?


Availability

In a nutshell, show up. A pastor must:

1) Discern what the need is.

2) Be willing to go where the need is.

3) Allow God to equip you to fulfill the need.

Prayer is essential for all of these things to happen. Our bible heroes like Moses and Gideon weren’t born brave, skilled and ready to serve God. They were called, and then there were some serious conversations with God which aided them in their tasks. Prayer not only helps you listen to God, but equips you to listen to those you are serving. Left to your own limited skills, you may miss something important about your charge that needs to be addressed. This is how ordinary schmucks like us get to do great things in God’s Kingdom, even if we’ve never seen the inside of a seminary: we simply ask for His help, and He gives it to us. Again, prayer is ESSENTIAL.


Evangelism

We must be always aware of peoples’ needs, the FIRST of which is their need for God. One of the issues we have with evangelism in the modern American church is that most people are so well cared for they don’t recognize their need for God. I served for three years at a church in a very well-to-do area and the people who were most open to God drove twelve year old Buicks, not brand new Lexuses. After the balloon goes up, everyone will be in crisis. They may be more open to the hope which God offers them if they are overcome with hopeless situations. And if there is no local church to serve people in need, we must remember the old truth that most modern Christians have forgotten: the church is not a building, but WE are the church. WE are the hands and feet of God on earth. Which brings me to outreach.


Outreach

One thing the modern church must not forget, even NOW, is to meet the practical needs of people. While we are charged with offering the good news of Christ, we must remember the pastor’s job description, which addresses the spiritual AND practical needs of individuals. A great way to make God’s love real for someone is to meet a practical need. I have seen people break down and sob when simply handed a bottle of ice water while their car was stuck in traffic on a hot day. Outreach is not difficult, and you don’t need to travel to a third world country to touch someone with God’s love in a way that impacts them tangibly.


Conclusion

Some pastoral situations are truly best handled by an experienced individual with specialized education. But the main thing I’d like for you to take away from this is that GOD HAS WHAT YOU NEED, IN EVERY SITUATION. Don’t let inexperience or lack of education prevent you from making yourself available to those in need, now AND after things get toasty. Be it wise counsel, an open ear, an encouraging word, or even a water bottle given in love, you DO have something important to offer. The job description of a pastor may not be on the recruiting roster of every survival retreat, but it is in God’s survival manual.