How Fast Do You Move?

This Sunday we are going back to the Beatitudes. In this week’s article, I would like to focus on something that could be considered a rather taboo topic. Today I talk about moving at the speed of church.

I will, at times, watch a few of those shows that do full makeovers on a limited budget and very limited time. We look at a dilapidated one bedroom home that a family of twenty live in. It has no running water, there is no insulation in any of the walls and the sink doubles as a bathtub every second Saturday night. The host comes in with grand plans, a team of helpers and a whole waft of support and transforms the house into a luxurious ten bedroom house in a week. Hard to believe? I am still working with a crew who had ten days to do some renovations on the church, nothing so grandiose as re-creating the Taj Mahal, and we are still taking care of some of the final cleaning and tiding. The process was stalled a few times because we were waiting on one person to make a decision but these delays were nothing that completely halted the project for any extreme amount of time.

As I look back on some surveys that I have been privileged (note the sarcasm) to review, something that comes to mind is this; you are not going to make the right decision no matter what you do. It takes three months to figure out a venue that is going to upset the least amount of people, four months to find just the right colour that will not offend, a full year to consider the direction of a church body without losing anyone. Here is the key; there is no win-win scenario, someone will always disagree. Nine out of ten dentists agree – how long are the nine going to deliberate to get the tenth one on board? I have seen boards split and churches thrown into turmoil because one person does not like the way things are dealt with in the board meeting. I remember an old movie where the jury was hung because one person did not feel the majority was right.

The church is God’s house. In God’s house there are multiple personalities and multiple viewpoints. Every meeting of the board, every gathering of the fellowship is one dissenting view from an argument; thus is the way of life outside the walls of the church as well. Should our prayer going into any meeting, any gathering be “open my heart, mind and soul to your leading, Lord”? Jesus dealt with issues within His own following, Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him and yet the work of the Lord prevailed. Before we look for the negative and find ways to throw a wrench into the system, why not sit for a time in prayer and reflection and ask God “what is best for the faith gathering”. A great man once told me not to be the cork in the bottleneck that causes the back up. Be open to the Spirit and to the needs of the many over and above the needs of the few or the one. Jesus died on the cross for the multitudes without regards for His own life. Are you willing to be Christ-like in your ways as well?

As previously mentioned, this Sunday we look into the Beatitudes. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. Service starts at 10:30 MST and can be seen live on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MainAvenueFellowship/) or viewed afterwards on our website (www.mainavefellowship.blogspot.ca).

Blessings
Pastor Todd