Image from Stana Katic’s Wikipedia page
Kate’s bio reads:
One of the youngest women to ever make homicide detective with the NYPD, Kate Beckett is a tough, smart, first-class investigator known for being a closer. She’s also gained a reputation as a detective who’s intrigued by the sort of cases that don’t fit neatly into a box. It’s a reflection of her ongoing quest for justice.
You might not recognize Kate right away, but you already have Kate Becketts in your congregation. Kate followed her heart and passion right into an occupation more traditionally held by men. She is tough and street wise, yet surprisingly vulnerable once you get below the surface.
Kate’s focus and passion is her work. She is driven by trauma (in her case, her mother’s murder) in your Kate’s case it might be a failed relationship, or something more devastating. The bottom line is that she has become convinced that the world is unsafe and she can only really depend on herself. Trust and friendship don’t come easily, and this is doubly so with her relationship with God.
When we learn to depend on ourselves to the exclusion of others, we tend to develop a cynicism. It is easy to see other people through the lens of their detriments instead of focusing on their strengths. This helps keep people at arms length.
Can you help Kate realize the basics: We our powerless; God is powerful; We must let Him in and ask Him for His solution.
One of the best ways you can help Kate is to connect her to a few other strong, independent women who are the wage earners for their households. You’ll need a facilitator, because this group won’t gel easily, but once it does, it will be like glue. We learn from each others stories. One way to break down the cynicism is to lift the veil and help people see the heart of those they would otherwise judge.
If you connect Kate with a church project, realize that her professionalism will likely cause friction. She is used to dealing with people in her work world, and people in the church typically need a softer approach. Instead of removing her, find a connector person who can help those in the group understand Kate for her strengths, and help Kate see the people behind the functions.
Kate is likely single, because she tends to pick relationships that will fit her model of the world. She finds men undependable and irresponsible. The only way you can help her break this pattern is to help her rewrite her model through God’s perspective.
God created us for community. When we realize that we aren’t the only one (of whatever, it changes for each person), then we begin the trek to community and transformation. When you help Kate build relationships in the church, you are also helping her to strengthen those relationship muscles so she will be able to respond to God’s call for deeper relationship.
Kate needs people she can trust, and she needs to lower her guard and let God be in charge.
Can you show Kate that God is dependable and not capricious?
Can you help her break down her walls and develop real relationships?
Can you show her God’s dependable model of the world so she can move forward into functional relationships?
Can you help Kate really know God and see herself the way God sees her?
Her future depends on it, and your church needs Kate’s strong, professional approach, and the world Kate lives in needs her to be dependent on God, not on herself so they can know Him too.
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The people in this “Coming to Your Church This Sunday” series aren’t real – even those who are designed from television characters. They are a compilation of people we have known, read about, heard of and heard from throughout the years. Their purpose is to help church leaders get to know those in their congregation and those who might walk through the door. If you see yourself in them, you just have a lot in common with the rest of the human race.
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