Hello
Emmanuel,
The
definition of ‘insanity’ is to do the same thing over and over again and expect
different results. This can apply to
churches as well as to anything or anyone else.
I talked to a pastor last week about his church. He is one of 70 staff people who lead a
congregation of 5,500 people in the Baltimore area. Once my eyes stopped bulging from my head, I
started asking all kinds of questions.
The first was ‘how’?
‘You
can’t be afraid to do things differently.’
The church he works for has to start a new church every year to sustain
their current pace of growth. This
obviously overwhelmed my head and so I asked another question: ‘how’?
‘You
can’t be afraid to do things differently.’
It was a common theme in our discussion and, of course, my mind went to
Emmanuel. I don’t want to say that we
are stuck in a rut, but the reality is that we are stuck in a rut. I won’t say that it is a bad rut as far as
ruts go. I’ve been in ruts where there
is no productivity and no pursuit of the purpose of the church. That is not Emmanuel. We have our missions and worship and small
groups and so on and so on. But are we
in a rut?
As
we consider the future of the church, I wonder if we really need to sit around
the table and have serious conversation about where Emmanuel is headed. Do we need to do some things
differently? Are we in danger of
becoming content and satisfied with the status quo? Are we afraid to do things differently?
Maybe
it is time to get our creative juices flowing.
Maybe it is time to jump out of the box and ask the question, ‘what
next?’. God is not a status quo
God. God is someone who likes change and
sometimes even demands it. What
‘something different’ is He calling you to do?
And are you too afraid to follow through?
God
is Good,
Pastor
Joe
