Church Community

Can I take a momentary break from Abby for a second? ha

As you know, I've been working at the church for the last three months. I had felt the holy nudge telling me to spread my tent wider and to dig my tent pegs deeper into the ground. So I did. I dug into the Word and I began serving at the church and here's what I've found.

There is so much glory to be discovered when we commit to God's work. So much unexpected. Unknown.

I've seen prayers for my family answered that I have been shooting up to God for years.
I've been entrusted by God and given the highest responsibility of people seeking my help and the chance to speak into people's lives.
New ministries have been birthed.
New relationships with people have been put in my path.

The last three months God has orchestrated around me a beautiful community. Something I may have sought previously for all the wrong reasons but unexpectedly has now been put in my path. And I do not say this with any sort of self boasting but in truth and in complete humility. It has been just the most amazing thing!

And while I am enamored with the beauty of the church now, I can hear the negative voices of the church too. A sound I'm all too familiar with for I was once that person. Complaining about this or that. "Not getting anything out of it" "the worship wasn't good" "that was distracting" "we should go look around" And here's an excerpt from Living Into Community by Christine D. Pohl that summed up my own thoughts on that so well.

Gratitude and ingratitude are closely tied to what we notice, and once we start focusing on flaws in a community they quickly dominate our attention. There are always things about a community or congregation that will disappoint us, and because our expectations for the church are high, disappointment and frustration can run very deep. 

Beneath the critique and complaint, is there also an ingratitude for the congregation and its pastors? Is the church member's dissatisfaction rooted in a lack of recognition of God's faithfulness in times of difficulty and weariness?... Or, as is often the case, is the disasstifcation a mixture of truth and ingratitude, concern, and irresponsibility? Is eagerness to visit other communities an expression of real interest in getting congregational life right, or is it a reflection of a consumer mindset that is always looking for a better deal? 

We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly to the highest good...We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet not really small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things? If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.

I can only imagine if this advice were headed by even a fraction of the local church - the effects could be revolutionary. How many times have I wished I were somewhere else where God was REALLY moving? How many times have I longed to be in a more beautiful place and abandon the urban neighborhood where I live? How many times have I fantasized about the perfect fellowship where everyone got along like a perfect family. What this boils down to is spiritual pornography...creating a mental fantasy of a perfect place or people and not recognizing the good things all around me. This spiritual porn is my nemesis, it's poison. Thankfully the antidote is available and accessible: equal parts of gratitude and affirmation. 

Are you like, "oh, snap!" like I was?

Let this be recalibration for you if it was. Dig those tent pegs in deeper. Spread your tent wider. God is waiting.