While at District Assembly (a gathering of Nazarene churches in Washington from Canada to Oregon, West of the Cascades), I had an opportunity to listen to Dr. Jerry Porter, a General Superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene, speak to these concepts. He shared an illustration that jump started some of these thoughts:
"Imagine you were responsible for a church. If someone came to you and offered you a million dollars if you doubled the size of your church in six months, what would you have to do to make it happen?"
Think about that for a moment. What would you do? What would you change? What would it look like for you? I have been thinking on this question since the GS asked it. As a result, I'm beginning to identify areas that could change and areas that NEED to change if Community of Hope were faced with this question.
I think it is fair to say most pastors/people would do whatever it takes if it meant getting one million dollars for doubling their church in 6 months. Think about how amazing that would be. More people would be part of God's kingdom and there would be a huge reward for accomplishing this feat. But wait a minute, isn't there already a huge reward for doing this? Isn't eternity with the God of Creation far more valuable than one million dollars? Shouldn't that reward be the driving force? I think it is. I think it should.
This, of course, is what the GS was ultimately getting at. We have an opportunity to receive the greatest reward ever, so why aren't we doing whatever it takes to make it happen. Instead, we attempt to rationalize why something has not been accomplished and we fail to take responsibility for the results.
I believe God is responsible for salvation. God and only God is capable of taking a sinner and forgiving their sins. Only God is capable of paying the price for our sins and setting us free. In fact, God paid the ultimate price. We see this evidenced in the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. While salvation can only come though God, God has intentionally chosen to spread the good news of salvation by using sinners who have been saved by grace. Sinners saved by grace just like you and just like me. We have an important role to play in the process.
Yet, how many sinners saved by grace take this role seriously? How many of us give a 100% effort toward this end? How many of us are willing to do whatever it takes? We would likely do it for a million dollars, but will we do it for eternity?
Now, I'm about to be completely vulnerable with you and that's not easy for me. I'm tired. I'm tired physically because of the need to be bi-vocational; I'm tired mentally and emotionally because of the efforts to revive a church in decline for more than 20 years; I'm tired spiritually, because I have a human desire to see spiritual fruit develop faster as a result of my human efforts; and as a result of my fatigue, I find myself attempting to rationalize why things are not different.
The challenge by the GS to do whatever it takes has also remind me that in the midst of my fatigue, I know God is still God; in the midst of my fatigue I refuse to give up on what God has called me towards; and in the midst of my fatigue I need to do whatever it takes to be used by God in the process of salvation. I need to take responsibility for what I am capable of doing and/or changing.
As a result, I am evaluating different areas of my life. I'm analyzing what I'm doing right, and what needs to change, so I can be more effective and productive in accomplishing what God needs done. Self-evaluation is never easy, it is rarely enjoyable, but the results can be life-changing; and that's ultimately what I want to do, change lives for God.
What that looks like exactly, I don't know. I do know this... I am willing to do whatever it takes.
Until next time,
David
