Something happens when we sit too long, and too many of us have sat for too long in church seats. We come and sit (and invite others to do the same) instead of sending and serving. (I hope even those who have not physically been sitting in church seats over the past year because of the pandemic hear this as a challenge as well.)
We do a lot of rationalizing. We don’t have enough volunteers. Some of the things we want to do are already being done by others. Our community doesn’t have the same needs as some others. Some of our reasons are good. Others are good excuses.
There are a lot of individuals in churches who are serving and reaching and building relationships. But how intentional are we as a church to equip them to serve and reach and build relationships out of their faith not simply their personality or community involvement? And even if the individuals are serving, reaching, and building relationships out of a healthy faith, what about others in the church? We don’t need to program everything. We’re (hopefully) coming out of an overprogrammed season in churches, but we can’t do so without intention, resulting in a void. We need some structure. We need to see each other serving and building relationships. We need to be examples for one another.
We can share stories. We can invite others to join us. We can hold brief Q-and-As for people with similar interests and passions. Instead of asking, “Who has it all figured out and will share?,” we can ask, “Who is trying and is willing to shares the highs and lows, not out of expertise but from a place of humility and encouragement?”
The church has been through a mess in the past year or so. Honestly, the church has been through a mess for a long time. We have some pretty awful history. We also have some great history. Most importantly, we have one amazing God.
We can’t change a system without changing ourselves. It’s time to stand up and move. Let’s engage our minds and muscles to do the challenging work to impact others—inside and outside the church—for God.
Pure Purpose 