A New Beginning

Well, something new for me today. I have seen many of my friends give this a try and have really enjoyed reading their thoughts, comments, and questions about life, so I figured I would give it a try. I have been thinking about a lot of things lately, how God has been working in my life through experiences and conversations I've had lately, and I think this will be a great way to try to process them. So, here goes.

I have been reading a book lately entitled This Present Future by a guy named Reggie McNeal. He talks about the shift from a comsumer church to a missional church. He challenges much of what the institutional church has prescribed to, a "if you build it they will come" mentality, which he argues pulls us further away not closer towards God's kingdom work. In fact he states that this model of church will die over the course of the next 20 years or so, and so to will the institutional church, if we don't make some serious changes.

Lately I have been feeling God working on my heart when it comes to some of these issues. A part of my faith has long been tied to the "do church really well and folks will come" ideology. Perhaps not so much consciously, but when I read McNeal's words I am reminded by the tweaks and twinges of pain/guilt I feel inside. A part of me wants to be that dynamic speaker/teacher/leader who is looked at and seen as influential and important, who draws folks in and inspires them, I guess the pride in me runs pretty deep. The reality is that the more I try to become this great "leader", the less influence I seem to have on the folks around me. It's only as I enter into relationships, only when I walk beside, that I get a chance to have meaningful conversations about real things with real people, only then do I feel God working through me. Not sure if I fully understand this or even believe it all the time, again, the pride in me still calls out for more. But maybe as I continue to read, as I seek the Lord, as I talk with people, God will continue to show me.