You know, it’s a valid question. In the three main environments where I serve as a chaplain —homeless shelters, hospitals, and bars—, sometimes it’s not very obvious what exactly I do (even to me). Sometimes, I can talk to someone for hours, and we never reach some magical “aha” moment. Not every conversation leads straight to a conversion experience or a prayer or seeing the world in a completely different way. Strangely, those things aren’t even really the goal. Instead, I keep coming back to a philosophy known as “ministry of presence.”

Ministry of presence revolves around this concept:
To save the world, Jesus’ first act was to move into the neighborhood. He had been present in The Trinity from the beginning, but when he took on flesh, everything changed for us. Now think about what he did next.

Jesus spent the first three decades of his life just being with people.
We don’t know much about those years. We have the story of his visiting the temple, but everything else is legend. Based on that one story we have, we see a Jesus who asked questions and sought companionship and acquired some recognition as a good member of the community.

After that, Jesus spent three years of his life working with people.
The bulk of the gospels tell stories of Jesus’ service alongside his disciples and the crowds he attracted. He involved other people in his miracles. He imparted wisdom and invited conversation. He treated the people around him as partners and comrades in his three-year ministry.

Then Jesus spent three days of his life doing the work that we couldn’t.
We couldn’t die on a cross and erase the conditions of sin and self-interest. Only Jesus could do that, and he paved the way for us to die to the old nature and rise into something new. This was something completely beyond our ability, so Jesus did it on our behalf.

33 years on earth, and he spent the significant majority of it just being with people. Please don’t think I’m diminishing the importance of the cross, but look where Jesus spent his time. What if we adopted the same approach?

I’ll let you in on a secret:
Homeless people, hospital patients, and bar patrons don’t need you to save them, and many would really rather you not. I respect the passion of people who come in with banners waving to annex new corners for the Kingdom. We need those people. Those people make a big difference, but that’s not this ministry. My goal is just to be present; God does the rest.

My supervisor, Mother Beth Tjoflat, often tells our team of chaplains: the greatest gift you have to bring is your self— your presence, your mind, your body, your attention. That is absolutely the greatest thing you can offer to someone.
That’s what this is all about.
My ministry isn’t about offering money or music or even a message.
I offer myself.

I insert myself into a setting where you might not expect a chaplain to be, and then I wait and listen for whatever may happen next.
Bars, hospital rooms, homeless shelters—
I picked the places where people are the most open and honest,
where our defenses tend to be down
and where strangers are a welcome presence.
I also picked those places because that’s where I think Jesus would go.

Take hope in this:
you don’t have to be a great speaker,
you don’t even have to be that great at talking to people,
you just need to be willing to show up and listen and love.
Be present.
It’s the greatest gift we can offer each other.

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This analysis of the life of Jesus was guided by Sam Wells’s A Nazareth Manifesto.

The street ministry I serve with is Church Without Walls, and they do incredible things in Downtown Jacksonville.

Also, while I couldn’t really fit it into this post, I’m reminded of the popular saying attributed to St. Francis: “Preach the Gospel. When necessary, use words.”