Obsessive Vink Disorder (OVD)

Dear Pastors

Obsessive Vink Disorder (OVD)

It’s now official. OVD exists. There is in fact such a disorder. I know this sounds really weird…..actually it is really weird…..but read on……...

If you are a grandparent you will completely understand what I am about to tell you…..completely. If you are not yet a grandparent then please humour me and read on because one day you will be so happy you know about this….truly, you will.

So here goes. The mother of these cute kids is my daughter-in-law Melanie Vink (nee Russel) married to my youngest son, Jason. 4.5 years between oldest and youngest, 3 boys and 1 girl. Over the years Melanie and I have this banter going on. Whenever they do something cool and commendable, Melanie says how it reminds her of her younger self. But I claim them as mine and tell her it reminds me of when Jase was young. Whenever they are loud, out-of-control and stroppy she says to me ‘it’s a Vink gene’ and I say something along these lines ‘no never seen that before it must be a Russel gene’ and depending on the severity of the situation I will add ‘and a feral Russel gene at that’. It’s all done in good fun of course.

Yesterday the young one, Dakoda (front right) was at my house along with a few of his siblings and cousins. This kid is unbelievable! At just over 2 years of age he is into everything and I mean everything and at lightening speed. He has no fear……none. When Melanie came to pick him up I said, “this boy hasn’t got normal human blood running through his veins, it’s a mix of V, caffeine and rocket fuel”. In a flash she retorts, ‘No he has Obsessive Vink Disorder’. And she said it with conviction, powerful conviction. I didn’t expect that response and all I could do was laugh. It was an hilarious moment.

But here is the much more important point. Pastor, we have all inherited some ‘aberrant genes’. It results in all of us having some unwanted baggage that we carry around (very often it is from our childhood). And further, we are called upon to accept responsibility for the stuff in our bag (meaning we can’t blame our parents or Adam for that matter). Paul talks about the struggle with sin in Romans 7 in strong and graphic language and concludes his sermon by saying, “O Wretched Man that I am. Who can deliver me from this body of sin? It’s like wow….this feels pretty hopeless, is there any way out? And then within a heartbeat he remembers and says “Yes, thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Here’s the thing I think - if we no longer struggle with our own sin (weaknesses, vulnerabilities and proclivities) then it is highly probable that sin has mastered us, it has won the ‘tug of war’ within.

So my question today is, do you know your vulnerabilities? Do I know mine? Are you self-aware enough that you can speak to God very specifically about your weaknesses and temptations? What about speaking to your spouse and/or mentor? The stakes are high in spiritual leadership. When pastors and Christian leaders fall or behave inappropriately the havoc and pain, can be, and usually is immense.

And finally, our people also struggle. Our people carry baggage. They too have an aberrant gene or two. Does our preaching and one-on-one ministry reflect that we truly understand their struggle, their pain and their grief? Pastors that come at the pastoral task with deep empathy invariably are the pastors that people will listen to, really listen to.

Blessings
Alan