Wanting More

So a couple of weeks ago there was a long weekend in our neck of the woods. A yearly Monday off called Family Day. I love the premise. A day off where the only requirement is to spend time with family. I always work to put the day to it’s intended purpose.

This year we found out about a big event hosted at a high school in one of the small rural communities just outside of our city. It was quite fantastic. There were jumpy castles, clowns, entertainment and more. Our kids had a blast. They were even serving a pizza/hot dog lunch in the cafeteria for a ridiculously low price. (this is starting to sound like an infomercial)

Around the school that day there were several local community groups helping out. One of the groups helping to serve the lunch was from a local church which I think is fantastic. What I found interesting was the t shirts the church group were wearing. They were very bright yellow and said

“Church Name (changed to protect the innocent) community outreach…..We Show Up!

While eating, my wife and I had a conversation about the “We Show Up” tag line on the shirts. To be honest I’m not sure what to think of it. I don’t mean to be hard on the group of people who were there on their holiday, giving up their time  serving my family lunch but I don’t understand the intent of the we show up. That’s why I’m writing this post. I need some help and want some outsiders opinion.

Were they trying to draw attention to the fact they were doing this good deed? Were they trying to draw attention to the fact other churches weren’t involved. Were they trying to state that “Hey we’re here for you, our community please count on us”?

I guess trying to guess their intention isn’t really possible (or fair) but I don’t understand what they would be trying to communicate with it, or to be honest how I feel about it. If you have any thoughts please comment them.

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So I’ve spent a fair bit of time today thinking about us as Christians and the risks (or lack of) we take or the creativity (or lack of) we are open to.

I know I am painting with a very broad brush here but it seems like a large majority of the time I hear believers talking about risks  and the need to take them it’s usually in the context of a short term missions trip or looking at financing a building project.

Not that there is anything wrong with those two things but we have a faith based on a God who sent His son to earth to die on a cross. He then rose from the dead so that we could be reconciled with God and live life to the full.  We then usually live safe little lives where we take very few risks. We sit nicely in our pews then go out into the world and blend right in. Large groups of us may raise our voice to complain about something we’re unhappy about (usually the government) but won’t allow God to speak into our lives beyond dealing with some surface level sin.

A lot of these thoughts come from my reaction to an interaction I had earlier today.  It was with a leader in a local church and there was just no excitement. There was no willingness to change anything from the status quo. There was no willingness to risk anything.  Everything is just fine the way it is and there is no reason to look at anything other than what they’re currently doing and how they’re doing it.

I’m not a fan of change for change sake but I believe we need to be open to God’s calling whenever it comes.  We need to be creative in our thinking as we seek to share the gospel.  We should be full of a holy mischief. We should make people a little uncomfortable because we live as people who have a hope. A hope that is worth dedicating our lives to and giving up everything for.

Again I know I’m painting with a very broad brush. I know there are people of faith who are taking huge risks for the kingdom of God.  I know there are believers who are creating beautiful art and others who are thinking and wrestling with the realities of living a life a faith. So I ask for your forgiveness as I gripe about the way we as Christians often settle for a bland way of living.

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