Navelgazing. That’s a great word. It’s not in the spellcheck, but I will use it anyway. Navelgazing is when we get so internally-focused that we fail to see anything other than our own little worlds. Myopia. Tunnel vision.

It can happen in churches. Friends turn inward and holy huddles form, leaving lots of needy people on the outside looking in. And it can happen individually, when we become so consumed with whatever is going on in our own lives that we fail to see what others are going through.

I really appreciate Rick’s warning against navelgazing in today’s chapter of PDL. It is ironic but true - we can become so distracted by discovering our “spiritual gifts” that we fail to actually serve people.

The trick to ministry is matching up our passions with needs. It is an amazing thing when we can put our passions to work to meet needs. But sometimes, needs simply exist. We can’t wait on the sideline, saying, “Well, that’s not my gift or passion, so I am not going to meet that need.”

Jesus told the famous story of the Good Samaritan. Two religious men passed a needy man by. Who knows what they were thinking, but they failed to take the opportunity to look beyond themselves in a way that would motivate them to meaningfully serve a needy man. On the other hand, the good Samaritan didn’t tell himself that he wasn’t passionate about nursing when he saw a needy man. He simply helped him.

Navelgazing is OK when it is kept in check. It is appropriate to assess and inventory our skills, passions, experiences - our shape - as long as we don’t use that as an excuse to actually be about the business of ministry.

What do you think?