Among the things he said was the encouragement to "change the scorecard." By that he meant that we have for too long ascribed to the notion that the purpose of the Church is to build up the church. He pointed out that the Bible begins with a story in a garden and ends in a city which has no Temple. In between there are glorious stories of a God who shows up and does surprising things.
I want the activities and programs of LCM to go well. There is a good feeling when our Wednesday night dinners are crowded and when those first three rows are filled during Sunday morning worship. It pained me to decide to cancel last night's Bible Study. But I needed to hear yesterday's message that the goal of the Church (and LCM is an institution of the Church), is something other than building itself up. We are to be able the building up of the Kingdom of God; not about building up our own little kingdom.
Building up our own little kingdom(s) leads us to count the number of persons; working in the Kingdom of God forces us to see the needs and hopes of each individual person. Building up our own little kingdom(s) encourages us to draw fine lines around our differences; rather than encouraging us to celebrate the events which build up the Kingdom which bears God's name.
I want LCM to be strong, and exciting, and bursting at the seems; but I do realize that what God wants matters most. And I know that what God wants is for us to worry less about the success of this program or that and to concern ourselves with whether each expression strengthens the individual(s) who through LCM have the opportunity to brush up against the amazing grace of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment