For the last number of weeks I have been wrestling with the tension between biblical values that God has for us and our churches, vs. what can be easy to default to. Last week I wrote about the tension of making decisions. Is the highest priority making people happy, or living into God’s call for, “His Kingdom done, His Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10).
Today I want to lean into some of the things we do as a church and believers. If I am honest, I grew up, and still have a number of people near me who share this sentiment, “a busy church is a healthy church.” Now, there is nothing wrong with churches who are hard at work living into the vision God has placed before them, seeking to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8). But it begs the question, what drives all the stuff that we do? My conviction is that we quickly fall into a consumer mindset, convinced that what is best is to offer a diversity of programs and events that appeal to as many groups of people and ages as we are able to. So we have events for young and old, families and singles, sports enthusiasts, and readers, until we max out our capacity and schedules.
As I recently reflected on this, God pressed me with this question, what if God is less concerned about the fullness of your schedule, and the number or diversity of programs that a particular church offers, or that you are a part of and more about the transformation that is present in the lives of His people? What is it is less about how many of what kinds of things we do and participate in, and instead the impact it makes in our lives and the lives of others. It says in 2 Corinthians 3:8 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
Is our drive to do more, for the sake of offering a diverse and appeal slate to a consumer, or that in anything that we do, that God might change and transform us more and more into the image of His Son, even it means doing less? How will you live, love and serve, in such a way that leads to deep transformation? What would it look like to live with seeking deep growth and transformation as the highest priority in your life, instead of measuring the quality of your faith by how full you Spiritual schedule is?
Pastor Bill