“Here’s the church. Here’s the steeple. Open the door and see all the people.” You know who thought up this memory device? The Devil. The church is not a destination. It is a people. It’s not a building. It is a missionary force." -Rob Wegner
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
What's in your stable?
My friend Tim pointed me to a great scripture today. This is Proverbs 14:4
"Where no oxen are, the manger is clean. But much increase comes by the strength of the ox."
Oxen are messy. And they stink. Well, maybe its less the oxen that stink as much as it is the by-product of being an oxen. But oxen are also strong. They can do an amazing amount of work. They are steady; they pull hard; they keep on going.
So you've got a choice to make. You can have oxen (and all the accompanying mess) and experience much increase. OR you can have a clean barn and no mess, and no growth. But you can't have both.
I see within the church a desire for "much increase." I see a longing to make a big difference. A desire to draw people to God. A sincere and heartful hope that through us, the Kingdom of Heaven will grow and grow with "much increase." We want to see ourselves and our church GROW.
But it seems that we get stuck because, as much as we want "much increase," we also want the place to stay clean. You know what I mean here, right? We want things nice and neat and orderly. We want things to stay the same. We want to know what's what. We want to feel like we're in control. More than anything, we want things to happen without too much effort or without it requiring too much of me. We want the growth without the oxen.
So here's what I'm thinking: I want to see what it looks like when God accomplishes "much increase" in and through us. I want to be a part of that. So bring on the oxen. Bring it on. Even if it means we have to reconfigure the way we do things. Even if it means this will be messy and we'll make some mistakes. Even if it means I'm gonna get dirty in the process.
Bring on the oxen.
"Where no oxen are, the manger is clean. But much increase comes by the strength of the ox."
Oxen are messy. And they stink. Well, maybe its less the oxen that stink as much as it is the by-product of being an oxen. But oxen are also strong. They can do an amazing amount of work. They are steady; they pull hard; they keep on going.
So you've got a choice to make. You can have oxen (and all the accompanying mess) and experience much increase. OR you can have a clean barn and no mess, and no growth. But you can't have both.
I see within the church a desire for "much increase." I see a longing to make a big difference. A desire to draw people to God. A sincere and heartful hope that through us, the Kingdom of Heaven will grow and grow with "much increase." We want to see ourselves and our church GROW.
But it seems that we get stuck because, as much as we want "much increase," we also want the place to stay clean. You know what I mean here, right? We want things nice and neat and orderly. We want things to stay the same. We want to know what's what. We want to feel like we're in control. More than anything, we want things to happen without too much effort or without it requiring too much of me. We want the growth without the oxen.
So here's what I'm thinking: I want to see what it looks like when God accomplishes "much increase" in and through us. I want to be a part of that. So bring on the oxen. Bring it on. Even if it means we have to reconfigure the way we do things. Even if it means this will be messy and we'll make some mistakes. Even if it means I'm gonna get dirty in the process.
Bring on the oxen.
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